Gregor After the Code of Claw
by Nick410
Summary: Depression. Hurt. Pain. Suffering. All these undermining emotions run through Gregor as five years has passed since he last saw New York and his beloved. His life in Virginia is bland and taste-less, but will he go back to the place he longs, or go mad?
1. That cold Virginian air

_Hey guys, Nick410 here to tell you that this is the revised version of my original Gregor after the Code of Claw. I didn't like the original version, and I really wanted to get back onto this story. This is going to be more of a depressing story since practically everything bad happens to Gregor in here. He slowly begins to have hate and anger along with deep depression during the course of 5 years. Well, thanks for reading, and I wait for your feedback on this._

Five years, five long years it has been since Gregor had been ripped apart from the Underland along with his beloved. Not a day has passed since the shell of the former Gregor has forgot those beautiful crying violet eyes right before a stone slab separated his vision from her.

Gregor's parents could tell that this was beyond painful for Gregor, but Grace still thought that this was the best for him. When they moved to Virginia, that was when Gregor began to not even look at his parents. His parents tried to get him to talk, but he remained silent for over a few weeks. He gave a brief whisper to Boots once while she was sleeping, but that was all he practically said.

Nothing cheered Gregor up, so he just remained a loner from all of society. He stood in the back ground in school and even ate by himself at home in his room. And when news of his grandmother's sudden passing away, he slipped even further into depression. The only thing that kept him on the verge of sanity was a little photograph of her.

The little photo became his own tiny drug. He carried it wherever he went, at school, home, and the few other places he went. When his mother had found out about the photo, she began to get upset, not at the fact that her son was on the verge of landing in an insanity ward if he didn't have the photo, but that he had become this way because of her decisions. Even though Gregor was suffering deeply because of moving away and splitting their love to one another, Grace still didn't want her son to be in danger.

Gregor was currently sitting on top of his small house's rooftop. No one usually came up there except for a few birds here and there. Gregor let his legs dangle over the side of the house as he stared at the picture of her.

It wasn't like Gregor didn't know her name; it's just that he can't pull her name out from his depressed-filled heart to correctly remember it, no matter how much he loved her. Her name was, cloudy, foggy perhaps you could say.

Boots had drawn a picture of Gregor and her holding hands when she entered first grade, and had both of their names labeled underneath the picture. When Gregor took hold of the picture and looked at her scribbled name, it was so blurry to him, he couldn't even make out a letter, yet, he could read his name perfectly, even if it was drawn by a child.

Gregor's family had promised each other to never speak of her name, because the last time he heard it was when he was in the Underland. Now, since he's a shell of his former self and could crack at any moment, they decided for his own benefit, that they would refrain from speaking of that word.

As he sat on the roof, holding onto the all-too-familiar photograph, the sun began to rise over the mountaintops, breaking the black sky into streaks of dark blue. The sun was rising fast and the sky was beginning to grow lighter and lighter. Gregor pushed himself of the roof and landed in his small front yard. He tucked the picture of her inside his pocket vary carefully and stepped noiselessly inside his house.

When Gregor stared at the oven's digital clock, he could see that it was about to reach four in the morning, meaning his parents would be up in about an hour or so to leave for work. His dad went back to teaching while his mother found herself in an office cubical in the town bank.

Gregor walked quietly to his room and retrieved his backpack that contained his school binder along with his math and science books. After grabbing his coat, he slung the strap over his shoulders and picked up a pencil that was lying on his nightstand. With one last look to his room, he shut his door and walked to the kitchen where a pot of freshly brewed coffee was made.

He reached inside his cupboards and pulled out a paper cup so he could drink his coffee on the way to school. He poured the steaming coffee into the cup and walked out of the door into the brisk morning. Every breath he exhaled, it showed up as a cloudy mist that disappeared almost as quickly as it showed. The burning coffee in his hand spewed steam as well that left a stream of it trailing past Gregor.

Parkland High School was far away enough that he could actually take a school bus if he went down a few blocks, but he decided to just walk to school, helps to let the mind roam free. He could have his parents just drop him off, but he didn't even want to look at them.

As he slowly sipped at the black coffee, Gregor passed block by block and came into view of his school. His one and only friend Raphael was sitting on the front steps of the school, eating what looked to be a hamburger. As Gregor approached, Rafael inhaled the rest of his sandwich and walked up to greet his friend.

"Hey Gregor! What's up bro?" Raphael asked. He looked at the steaming cup of coffee, which was half gone by now. "Ew, black coffee? That's way too bitter for me!"

Gregor jut gave a solemn nod. "Hey Raf..." Raf was the only guy he could talk to in school, but even so, he still didn't talk to him that much. Gregor just usually responded with a nod, shake of the head, or a casual shrug of the shoulders. Teachers didn't count though since he had to answer, and since he didn't like to talk, the teachers had fun calling on him to see if he had the answer. Gregor thought about just ignoring them, but his mother would go all on his case, no matter how bad he was.

"Raffles!" yelled a voice somewhere. In an instant, a girl was tackling Raf with a bone crushing hug. Raf looked like a ragdoll as his body and limbs were swinging around as the girl swung his body during the hug.

Raf gasped for breath. "Hello to you too Angie…" Angie was Raf's closest friend; they had known each other for over nine years. Her and Gregor never really talked and weren't friends, but he could call each other "acquaintances" perhaps.

Raphael was a rather well known face in the school. He wasn't a jock or an insanely smart geek, but just a laid back guy with a mellow personality who cracks a few jokes. Raf never was a bad kid, so he was also on the good side of teachers. Raphael had many other names; "Raf" was the most used while Angie and a couple of other girls called him "Raffles" for some reason.

Angie on the other hand was perhaps exactly the opposite. She was a skinny girl who had a passion for reading and math. If you saw her, you would most likely only see her in the town library with her head in a book or playing Sudoku. Angie had a major crush on Raf, and surprisingly, he never really noticed. Or maybe he did and didn't really care at all.

"Hello as well Gregor." Angie said, not even bothering to get close to him, Gregor didn't mind. He gave an understanding nod back at her and took a sip of his coffee. "Raf, what are your plans for tonight?"

Raf put a finger to his lip, thinking. "Nothing much besides the usual chores and messing around on my computer at night, why?"

"Well…" Angie began as she twirled her fingers, "do you want to, you know, maybe hang out…or something?" Gregor noticed her have a slight blush and was trying her hardest to not show it.

"Sure, that sounds nice." Raf answered. Angie's face lit up entirely. After a chuckle, Raf turned to Gregor. "Hey, I'll see you later, alright?" Again, Gregor just nodded. Raf gave a brief smile and turned away with Angie tagging along. She waved goodbye and followed Raf out of sight.

The school's bell rang and its shriek echoed throughout the school corridors and hallways. Gregor gave a sigh and drained the rest of his coffee. He crushed his cup and tossed it into the trash before walking towards his classes.

First in his typical schedule was his Math teacher who constantly cracks jokes and tries to get the class laughing, but they just respond with blank expressions. Next was a boring period of listening to some Japanese guy rant about Japanese politics for his Foreign Language class. Another boring lesson in English about William Shakespeare, and then the rest of the day just slipped away like dirt being carried away by a gust of wind. Before he knew it, the final bell that released the eager-to-go-home students rang out its shrill ring loudly.

Kids bolted out of class to waiting busses, afterschool activities, or to hang with friends. Gregor slowly walked past the kids who were talking in the hallway to his locker. The conversation got quieted when he walked passed them, but got back once he was supposedly out of earshot. All of the students, not to mention teachers, do this, so it wasn't a concern to Gregor.

Gregor twisted his dial around on his locker and matched up the various white numbers to successfully open it. A tiny _click_ sound come from the locker, and its tiny door swung open. He grabbed his backpack and placed his books and binder into it. Just as he was about to shut his empty locker, something pushed Gregor from behind and his head banged against the metal insides.

The unexpected push sent Gregor's backpack to fly to the ground. The jarring of the impact of skull to metal shook his body, making him a bit dizzy at the same time. Holding his head, Gregor stared at the person who had shoved him from behind with a furious glance.

"Well, looks like the quiet freak has some emotions!" cackled a burly boy much taller than Gregor. At first, he didn't know who he is or why he just shoved him for no apparent reason. Then, as he got a better glance, Gregor saw it was Tyron.

Tyron was quite notorious in his school. He was part of the football team, but his main notoriety is beating up kids for his own personal benefit. Since he was a rather good football player, no teacher or staff really would think he would be doing this kind of stuff.

Another shove from Tyron pushed Gregor back onto his locker. People were beginning to gather around the commotion. Tyron's friends began to laugh like this was hilarious. Gregor resisted the urge to punch them each in the face as hard as he could.

"What 'chu gonna do 'bout it, huh?" Tyron spat in Gregor's face, the rancid smell of cigarettes blowing in his face. "Gonna cry to your momma?" Tyron's friends began to howl with laughter now. A few kids started to join as well and the crowd began to get larger and larger.

Gregor looked at the crowd of kids and saw a glimpse of Raf and Angie with worried expressions on their faces. He could feel his heart beat erratically and his right fist clenched so hard, the knuckles turned white. The murmurs of the crowd and the howling laughter of Tyron's friend echoed inside Gregor's head, but he still stood there with a deathly-stare at Tyron.

After a few seconds of trying to stare the other down, Tyron gave a chuckle. "Heh, that's what I thought." He walked passed him with a shove of the shoulder. "Be seeing you later freak!"

As quickly as the crowd had suddenly appeared, they dispersed right when Tyron and his friends turned the corner, their laughter and hand-slapping growing fainter and fainter as they continued to walk.

"Don't mind them." Raf said to Gregor as he walked up to him. He must've had a hostile look on his face because Raf suddenly grabbed his arm. "Leave them be. They may be thugs with no self-respect, but they still ain't worth it."

Gregor's clenched fist slowly loosened and his heartbeat calmed down. After he gave a re-assuring nod to his friend, Raf's face that was tense with concern relaxed and lightened. Angie picked up Gregor's backpack and handed it to him with a semi-concerned face, but not a word.

Raf turned to Angie then back to Gregor. "Will you be okay?" Gregor just gave a nod and slung his backpack around his soldiers without any sign of an expression of some sort.

"I'm out…" Gregor whispered just enough for Angie and Raf to hear. Without looking back, he slammed on the metal bar to open the front school doors and slipped out into the breezy weather.

Gregor reached into his left pocket and snatched out his music player. He put the headphones in his ear and played whatever was on in an attempt to calm him down before he did something he might regret. Then, he slowly reached into his right pocket and carefully pulled out a photo.

Clinging to it, Gregor noiselessly walked into his house a few minutes later. His mother who just arrived home greeted him, but Gregor walked right past her without any acknowledgement. He slammed down on the bed and slowly traced the outline of her. He gave a small sigh and drifted off to sleep, the photo resting in the palm of his hand.

_Well? I know it's definitely more depressing and angsty than the other version, but I kinda like the silent-type. It's kinda like me in a way. I'm beginning to work on the next chapter, but it won't be up for quite some time._


	2. Conflict

_Hey guys,_ _Nick410 back with another chapter. Time for a bit of an action scene, eh? I'd love to hear your feedback on this story now that I'm able to work more on my fanfics during lunchtime in school. :D_

_With Love,_

_~Nick410_

"BEEP BEEP BEEP!" screeched the alarm clocks obnoxious reminder to wake up. Gregor turned the clock off and slowly opened his eyes to the dim light from the early-rising sun rays beaming through his blinds. He propped himself on his elbow and rubbed both of his eyes.

He flicked on the light in his room on and the brightness made Gregor squint. Gregor made out the blurry numbers on his clock and it read around 5:10 in the morning. After groggily sliding out of bed, he stripped off his clothes and slipped into the tiny bathroom.

Gregor opened the shower door and turned on the bone-chilling water and silently waited for the water to heat up. As he waited, he stood in front of the mirror and stared at all the permanent scars that etched all over his body.

The long and snaky scars left from rather pleasant-smelling flowers attached to vines that would drag you into its depths, never to return alive or in one piece. Scars across his hands from when he smashed a sword and basically killed himself. Not to mention the ghastly claw-shaped scar that is spread thoroughly over his chest that keeps on waking Gregor up from nightmares screaming his head off and sweating pervasively.

The mirror began to fog-over and Gregor stepped into the warm waters. He felt the water trickle all over him, and he stood unmoving in the shower. For a good amount of time, he just let the water flow over him, unmoving nor thinking. Five, ten, fifteen, maybe even thirty minutes later, he turned the shower off and slowly dried off.

After getting dressed he slipped into the kitchen and grabbed his coffee. He slid on his coat and backpack and stepped back into the cold Virginian air. The bitter-cold air felt like sharp little pricks against any flesh that was revealed. He slid his hood on his coat over his head, drank some of his coffee, and walked to the school.

He didn't see Raf or Angie at the school step which was rather rare, but he continued through the doors and drained his coffee before the campus monitor reprimanded him. A few of the students threw brief glares at him, but continued to talk to their friends or listen to their music. Gregor didn't mind.

The school went on just like normal; boring, bland, and terribly annoying. He, Raf, or Angie didn't share one class together, so he truly was alone during school classes. Neither of them showed up at lunch, which was even more of a rarity. He shrugged off the thought and stood back in the quad quietly without food. 5th and 6th period were a drag, and by the time the final bell rung, Gregor was dead tired. As he was rounding the corner to go back to home, he heard some yelling at the back of the school.

Gregor peered around the corner and saw Angie with her back against the wall. 3 large boys loomed over her and were chuckling. Angie's backpack, purse, and other belongings were strewn across the ground. A look of panic was across her face.

"P-please…" she choked out. Gregor could tell from the shaking of her shoulders that she was trembling. "Leave me be…" Tears poured down her face and made a few strands of hair stick adhesively.

The three cackled with laughter. It was Tyron and his "pals" Grill and Slim. "Stop that, sniveling wimp! I warned you, we punish anyone who hangs with Gregor! Too bad the guy you have the hots for isn't here!" He reached a hand out, looking like he was about to grab her. Gregor suddenly appeared and grabbed Tyron's hand. He threw a look of confusion at Gregor.

"Don't you dare touch her-"he flicked his wrist and Tyron's hand twisted violently, making a horrid-sounding snap. Tyron gave a shriek of pain. "-with your filthy hands!" Gregor released his grip on Tyron's now-broken wrist and he fell to the ground with a thud, curses spewing from his mouth.

His friends charged at Gregor, their fist raised. He dodged Grill's punch with a side-step and slammed his face into the ground. Slim tried to land a punch, but he missed. Gregor turned from Grill and slammed his forearm into Slim's stomach, briefly immobilizing him. He grabbed Slim's neck as he was trying to recover and shoved him roughly. The force caused him to fly back and hit the ground, the air knocked out of him.

The sounds of moaning and muffled coughs from the three surrounded Gregor. Tyron weakly stood up, a blade gleaming in his hand. Gregor was expressionless. It was a coward move; using weapons on a guy who only had fists.

"Who the hell do yah think you are?" spat Tyron. Gregor's calm attitude and silence infuriated him even more. "Die!" He lunged at Gregor, the blade pointed at him. Gregor snatched Tyron's hand with the blade gripped in it, stopping the movement. He kicked Tyron in the chest and he flew back, the blade leaving his hand.

Gregor snatched the blade while it was in the air and pointed it at Tyron, his eyes growing wide with fear. He could kill him if he really wished to. Tyron was a fiend. Stealing people's money, intimidating and bullying kids, and just now about to sexually harass a girl who would be helpless against them. Of all the facts, people who feel a bit more secure if Tyron were to just, "disappear".

No, he couldn't kill him because of that. For all he knew, he could've been raised in hell at his house. Maybe he can't control his actions, even if it's a sad excuse. If Gregor killed him, he might separate him from people that love him; friends, family, a confused lover, anyone. He had already felt that pain before when he was torn from _her_; no one should feel that pain.

He gripped the handle of the blade and brought it down. The blade stuck into the ground a few inches away from Tyron's head. It was obvious that he missed on purpose, and conflicting emotions flickered across his face. He gave a grunt then lost consciousness.

Gregor stood back and stared at Angie, who was on the ground. Deep breaths arose from her as if she had been running for quite some time. A look of terror was bored into her eyes.

He straightened. "Sorry you had to see me like that…"


	3. Tick Tock

_Hello freaky darlings, been awhile eh? Sorry for the wait but the original file of this was corrupted and I'm a bit sad considering the fact that about 2/3 of it was finished…and as I was about to complete it and upload it…I couldn't even pop the file up. Glorious. So, hopefully this is as good as the previous, but I'll never know. Anyways here's the newest chapter! Enjoy…or I will smack your nipples! :O_

_~Nick410_

The dean's office always seemed intimidating to Gregor. Kids who were guilty and coming out of Ms. Rhodes' office with suspension slips; tears smearing down their faces as they wonder how their parents or guardians will reprimand them. Some couldn't care less, seeing it as the perfect excuse to escape the grasps of school. A clock continued to keep its repetitive tick-tock.

That fight attracted far too much attention, and of course, someone snitched on Gregor. The campus monitors rushed over and took Angie away from the scene to the health office before she could explain what the hell was happening. It's not a good scene to see a boy standing over three others who won't plead his own case.

After Gregor got seized by school police and sent to the dean's office to "explain his behavior", he heard word that the three boys were sent to the hospital. Tyron's broken wrist and bruised chest, Grill's broken nose from his face being smashed-in and Slim's difficulty to breathe. He waited impatiently to get chewed out by Ms. Rhodes.

Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock…

It was obvious that she was going to be furious at him. It was the middle of the week, and after dealing with handfuls of "juvenile" kids, all she wanted to do is go home watching some terrible soap opera and eat diet cake.

Surprisingly, there were a lot of kids in the office. Most were kids that had received detention that day for repeated tardies or disrupting class. Although the room was packed with loud and obnoxious students who tried desperately to find a seat, no one sat near Gregor even though two free seats were to the left and right of him. He couldn't care less.

The door to Ms. Rhodes' door opened violently as two adults and a young kid that looked no more than fourteen years old stepped out. Both adults had anger flushed in their faces while the kid, who was being tugged on by what could be presumed as his mother, was red-faced from the embarrassment at all the turned-heads and eyes that gawked at him. From the look on the adult's faces, one could see that he would likely get physically reprimanded. Harshly.

"All of you failure with detention slips, shut up!" barked Ms. Rhodes' shrill voice. They were hardly even whispering after seeing the kid get dragged out with tears spilling down his cheeks and a snot-filled nose; but apparently even murmuring was awfully too loud for her ears. A couple of students flinched at the sudden yell and all noise immediately died. "You all are taking time away from me, precious time from my already-busy schedule! Now I'll take away your sweet little time!"

Grunts arose from the students and Ms. Rhodes gave a small look of satisfaction. Gregor himself had never been in detention, but all you really do is homework; not too torturous. The only bad part was that if you talked, that would mean one day in in-house suspension. Nothing better to do than be locked up in a claustrophobic room full of misdemeanor kids who don't frankly give a shit about school.

One by one, each "juvenile" with detention slips went into Ms. Rhodes' office, told her why he or she got detention, got chewed out, and sent to the detention room. The other dean, Mr. Dileo, was out sick for the week, so they were short-handed. Mr. Dileo knew that Gregor wasn't a bad kid, he just kept to himself.

Tick-Tock…

"Gregor! Get in here!" snapped Ms. Rhodes. He entered back into reality. Gregor had been staring into space as he waited to get yelled at. Only a half an hour had passed and he was the only one left in the office. With a long sigh, Gregor stood up from his seat and entered the small office.

Ms. Rhodes was a short and fat woman who had a different hair-style every day. One day she would have normal straight hair laid down then curls so farfetched that she would look like some mad scientist that you see in the movies. Today, her ugly reddish-orange hair had been pulled to the side of her head in a ponytail. She gave Gregor her infamous glare, but he simply blinked at her.

"Shut the door." She ordered. Gregor didn't understand the need to do so since no one else was even in the office, but he cooperated. He took a seat in front of her desk. "What the bloody hell were you thinking? Sending three kids to the hospital, are you out of your freaking mind?"

Ms. Rhodes waited for an answer, but he gave none. She reached underneath her desk and popped open her filing cabinet. After a moment of her shuffling through paperwork, she pulled out a folder with a few pieces of paper in it. She flapped it down on her desk.

"Do you know what this is?" Ms. Rhodes asked gruffly. Gregor, again, gave no reply. "This is your entire school history from all four years. Pretty empty wouldn't you agree?"

She flipped open the folder and took out the few pieces of paper. "All that's in here is student information and one minor incident where you walked out of the class suddenly without permission during a lecture about love in English class a year ago. In all retrospect, normal people would see you as some aloof student with good grades and doesn't have the heart to hear about love. Unfortunately for you, I am no normal person!"

Gregor resisted the urge to murmur, "You got that right."

"Seeing today's incident, I can tell you are a creature!" Ms. Rhodes said with a tone of disgust. She also held out a finger pointed at him, accusingly.

"_You have no idea…_" Gregor thought; but remained silent.

An evil smirk crossed her lips, as if she came up with some brilliant and masterful plan. She certainly could be mad, just give her the right day to do that hair of hers. "With what you just did, you can land yourself into juvenile detention and spend quite some time there! How long do you think that serious face of yours and that silent-type attitude bravado will last you in a place where criminals like you lurk all over the place? Well?"

Gregor had never hit a girl, but Ms. Rhodes was definitely making him think about reconsidering. He swallowed the lump in his throat, took a silent deep-breath, and remained silent. If he did get sent to juvenile detention, there would be more kids under the age of eighteen in gangs who would intimidate newcomers; not too bad.

"Since you clearly have nothing to say and won't even make an effort to plead your pitiful story, we might as well call the school police to pick up another one of you delinquents! We can't have kids like you ruin our school name because of one snot-nosed brat!" Ms. Rhodes said almost triumphantly. As she was reaching for the phone, the door opened suddenly and Angie rushed in. "Angie? What are you doing here? The door is shut for a reason, this is private!"

"What the hell are you doing?" Angie spat. Her face was twisted in anger. "You plan to send him to jail after what he did?"

"Not jail, juvenile-" began Ms. Rhodes.

"Whatever!"

Ms. Rhodes took her eyes off Angie and returned them on Gregor; now a piercing glare. "This boy severely injured three boys and sent them to the hospital! Even if they were known-delinquents, he still deserves to pay the penalty!"

Angie's face literally burned red. "You-crack-brained fool! He was protecting me!" Gregor's eyes widened. No one had stood up for him since he's been in the shithole of a school.

"He was…protecting you?" Ms. Rhodes said slowly. Her face, once full of evil triumph, now showed shock.

"Let me get this straight, you planed on sending Gregor to jail when you don't even know the entire story? He could sue you!" Angie said threateningly. Sweat beaded up on Ms. Rhodes forehead. Gregor kept his usual face and kept silent, but there was still a faint feeling of disbelief in him.

After a slight pause, Ms. Rhodes cleared her throat. "He didn't once speak up or try to defend himself. Anyone else would've thought that kind of behavior was proof that he was guilty! If he isn't guilty, as you say, tell me exactly what happened. Gregor, step outside."

Angie was about to protest, but Gregor simply held his hand up to stop her. He stood up silently and gave Angie a quick glance as he left the room, shutting it behind him. Murmurs immediately arose from behind the now-close door that almost echoed in the empty office. The steady ticking from the clock kept its steady pace.

"So bothersome…" Gregor whispered to himself. He relaxed a little in the chairs and closed his eyes, slipping into his own little world. As Gregor slipped into his universe, he shut out the outside world around him.

Tick-Tock…Tick-Tock…

He appeared in that same place, a dark world beneath Earth's view. A beautiful place that seems to be always on the brink of war at any given second. Species who hate each other with spite and bitter rivalry that makes the ground under their own feet get covered crimson from blood. Fortunately, all seemed peaceful.

Gregor found himself in a grand room, made for someone of royalty. The place was dimly lit, but the light shone enough to see the marble floors and granite ceiling. A girl about his age stepped out from the shadows, and she was breath-taking. Her long hair hung loosely and neatly around her waist. Although practically all of her face was obscured from the dim light, her violet eyes pierced through the darkness. She was absolutely beautiful.

The girl walked up to Gregor, and without him thinking, he intertwined his fingers with hers and they began to dance. He could feel all the unhappiness and depressing he felt all these past years begin to leech off him and melt away.

In the first time since that day, the corners of his mouth lifted into a smile.

Both moved gracefully as they danced. They twirled in circle and held each other closely. She leaned up and planted a light kiss on Gregor's lips. After their lips parted, she slid back down towards the shadows where she emerged from. Gregor reached out and tried to call out to her, but no sound escaped. With a final twirl, the girl disappeared.

After the girl melted back into the murky shadows, Gregor's coldness began to return. His heart became frozen again and ice flowed through his veins. The happiness he briefly experienced washed away and was replaced with depression, grief, and an attitude that held a middle finger to the world.

It was her, that one girl that has transformed Gregor's life in both good and bad ways. They eventually both fell in love with each other, but that love was taboo, unthinkable. When all the conflict was over, Gregor was ripped apart from the girl he loved and slowly became the person he is now. Lifeless.


	4. Thank You

_Hello there guys. I wanted to thank you all for the nice reviews you've given me. I will be updating as soon as I can for the next few chapters, but I might have to take a break later on for school. If you have any concerns or requests, please don't hesitate to tell me. Please enjoy this chapter._

_ Also I have a Facebook page if you want to follow it. I'll post up updates and perhaps ideas that you might like._

_~Nick410_

"Gregor!" said a voice. Someone put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to wake up from his daydream. Instinctively, he grabbed the person's hand hard. He felt it jerk back in surprise. "Ow!"

"Angie held her wrist and rubbed it. It has turned red. "What was that for?"

Gregor looked at the ground. "Sorry." He said in a barely audible voice. His throat was scratchy and dry from his vision of _her_ in that _place_. It all seemed so real.

"I tried to call you before, but you seemed to have something deep on your mind." Angie replied with a worried look on her face. "Are you alright?"

He gave a simple nod for an answer.

Angie gave an understanding smile. She pointed to Ms. Rhode's door behind her. "She won't be a problem to you anymore; I set her straight about what happened."

Again, Gregor answered with a nod. He grabbed his bag and made his way to the door. All he wanted to do was to get out of the eucalyptus-smelling office; the sooner, the better. Suddenly, there was a tug on his jacket.

"Wait!"

Gregor turned his head and saw Angie holding a handful of his jacket. There was a slightly noticeable blush on her face and her eyes were to the floor. He lifted an eyebrow.

"Will you walk me home please? I'm…a little scared." Angie whispered. After a brief moment, he shrugged his shoulders. Her face greatly lit up. How cute.

They left the school together with Angie trailing a few steps behind Gregor. She was messing with her phone and gave a sad sigh. He turned around. "Raf has been trying to get a hold of me…"

Gregor remained quiet and put on his earphones. He knew where Angie's house was since he followed Raf there once after school. Even though it was quite awhile ago when that happened, he still remembered.

As he clicked on his music, he let the world around him disappear. Without his music, besides the photograph of her, he would go crazy. Not a day went by did he not listen to music. It soothed him and calmed him down. It provided a way to briefly forget the day, the week, the month, the year even.

Before long, they had arrived on Angie's street. Gregor pulled out one of his earphones and continued to walk towards the house. Angie was still behind him with a saddened face. He noticed this but didn't say anything. Suddenly, Angie gave a little squeak from behind him. He looked up to see Raf sitting on the house's steps drinking some lemonade.

"Raf?" Angie yelped in a high-pitched voice. "What are you doing here?"

He gave a confused look. "You said you wanted to hang out today. I tried to call you after classes got out, but you didn't respond; so I decided to wait here! Also, your mother gave me some lemonade when she saw me waiting, pretty nice huh?"

Angie's cheeks flushed red. "But we've been gone for over an hour! I assumed you were already doing something else by now, that why I didn't respond."

"Nah, you wanted to hand out and I agreed. I'm not going to drop those plans just because you were a little late." replied Raf. He noticed Gregor in the back. "Yo what's up Gregor? I've never seen you walk Angie home. Don't you live in the opposite direction?"

Gregor just shrugged his shoulders.

Raf turned his attention to Angie. "How come he walked you home?"

Angie stared at the ground, unwilling to look at Raf for some reason. "I asked him to."

"Why?"

"Because."

"That doesn't help!"

"Because I got attacked okay?"

Raf's face showed shock. His empty cup slid out of his hand and clattered on the ground. Angie had tears falling down her face at the memory. Gregor only leaned on the wall with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed.

"What?" Raf asked after swallowing a lump in his throat.

Angie wiped away her tears. "A group of jerks were trying to hurt me for hanging out with Gregor. The same kids who pushed him into his locker yesterday. I'm pretty sure they targeted me due to the fact that I was vulnerable at the time."

Raf stood up, his fists clenched so tight that his knuckles were white and his face portrayed a look of rage neither Gregor nor Angie had seen before. "Where are they?"

"Stop!" Angie cried, grabbing Raf's arm. He shook her hand off.

"Let me go!" he growled, "I'm gonna kill them! Tell me where they are!" Angie was grabbing at his clothes as he tried to pry her off him, his eyes wide in rage.

"Hospital." Gregor answered quietly. Both turned to him, but he said nothing else and remained silent.

Raf's face softened mildly, but his fists still were clenched very tightly. "Where?"

"The hospital Raf." Angie repeated. "Gregor stepped in before they could really do anything. He took the three of them on." Raf gave Gregor a look for confirmation, but he only responded with a blink.

"Really? You sent those three bitches to the hospital?" Raf asked. Gregor shrugged. "Did you make sure to beat the shit out of them too?" Again, he shrugged.

Raf's fists became un-clenched and his head looked downwards. Then, abruptly, he threw his head back and began to laugh. Angie had a semi-confused expression and Gregor re-opened his closed eyes.

"Good, I wouldn't have it any other way!" Raf said with a wild-sort of look in his eyes. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an old cell phone. He tossed it to Gregor. "Here."

He caught it and gave Raf a confusing glance.

"I meant to give that to you a few days ago, but it slipped my mind. The thing is a piece of junk, but you can still use it with no trouble." Raf explained. "It's already paid for, the phone itself. All you need to do is put some minutes on it. This way, it'll be easier to keep in contact with us."

Gregor wordlessly nodded and slid the phone in his pocket. He never had one due to his family's financial issues and the fact that he never needed the use of one.

Raf turned to Angie. "Still want to hang out?"

Angie's face turned bright red again and she gave a smile. "Y-yeah! Let me just tell my parents, alright?"

She turned and entered her house before he could respond. Raf walked up to Gregor, put a hand on his shoulder, and leaned in.

"I hope you know," he whispered, "that once those guys are released, I'm going after them. I'm not just going to sit on my ass and let them get away with what they tried to do with only a couple of injuries."

Gregor nodded.

Raf then smiled. "Thanks for protecting her though. I owe you one." He gave Gregor's shoulder a pat before he began to walk away. "Tell Angie I'll be waiting down the street. Taking a little walk to blow off some steam."

Angie came out a few minutes later. She looked around. "Where did he go?"

Gregor wordlessly pointed down the end of the street.

"Oh…alright. I better not keep him waiting." She replied. Angie reached in her pocket and pulled out a lighter and a cigarette. She placed the cigarette in her mouth and lit the end. The end glowed brighter as she drew a long puff and exhaled it.

Angie noticed that Gregor gave her a look. She quickly waved him off. "Oh, don't think I do this every day. In fact, I rarely smoke. I usually abhor this filthy thing, but it's just that today was a rather stressful day, you know?"

Gregor silently nodded an agreement and slung his bag over his shoulder. He began to walk away towards the direction of his house. "Wait!" He turned around.

"I wanted to do this before you left…" She leaned up and planted a light kiss on his cheek. "Thank you."

_Hey guys, sorry that this chapter is shorter than last's. This one had primarily dialogue and confrontation between characters instead of my usual style. I got this chapter much earlier than I expected, but the fifth chapter might take longer to complete than this one. Thank you for reading and please review your thoughts about this and tell me if you see any errors in here._

_~Nick 410_

_Next Chapter: Home_


	5. Home

_ I wanted to sincerely thank you all for your continuous support towards this story. Many of you guys love this story and I'm quite surprised at the amount of positive feedback I have received. I honestly think this is just an alright story, but a few of you are saying it's one of the best they've read. I'm overjoyed. Please enjoy this chapter, and I'm awaiting more of your uplifting feedback. _

_~Nick410_

Gregor rubbed the spot where Angie had kissed him as he walked home. It was surprising, he honestly didn't expect that. His face was expressionless as always, even though a pool of mixed emotions flooded in him. Angie had managed to completely catch him off guard and surprise him not once, but twice in a day. She definitely was something else alright.

He slid both of his earphones in and played his music. As it played calming music, he let his muscles relax. His hand pulled out the photo of _her_ and let his mind wander back to that dream. It was still fresh in his mind, which was odd. Usually whenever he had a dream, it was all fuzzy and unclear and tough to remember. But this dream, it was so vivid and realistic. It was euphoric in the dream, as if all the loneliness and grief dissipated completely. He never wanted to wake up, he wanted to have the dream become his reality; his life. Unfortunately, it was only just a dream.

It didn't take long, in Gregor's head, to reach his house. Even though it took twice as long as normal due to the fact that he took Angie home, letting his mind wander and listening to music seemed to make time fly by. In what took close to an hour and a half only felt like five minutes to reach the house.

His house stood out from the rest of the neighbor's. It was pathetic-looking in comparison. Dried-up leaves littered the lawn and a dead tree was drooping in the front. All their shrubs and cacti were brown and showed no sign of life from lack of care. Their house seemed dead.

Gregor gave a sigh and turned off his music, shoving it along with the headphones in his bag. He gently slid the photo of _her_ in his pocket. If his mother saw that he brought his music player to school, she would have a fit. Although, she would probably already have a fit since the school more than likely informed her about his little "dilemma". He disdainfully opened the door to his home.

"Welcome home, Gregor." murmured a very tired Lizzie. The 13-year old was sprawled out on the sofa while sipping a can of soda. She was watching some cartoon on the television, but didn't seem to be paying much attention to it. She was dazing in her own world.

Lizzie had begun to change a couple of years ago after the family had moved to Virginia. Slowly she began to change from the caring sister Gregor had to an aloof and socially-awkward girl. Granted she now started to earn great grades from studying like crazy, Gregor still preferred her old self.

This damned state has changed everyone for the worse. Gregor, as he already knew himself, is a shadow of his former self. Lizzie is a completely different person. Boots still speaks Crawler and quickly became a social outcast from the rest of her children. His dad had recently been fired once again from his teaching job at a school, causing him to look for part-time jobs and the stress caused him to take up smoking again. Grace still worked at her small bank, but her pay was so miniscule that she would come home and sulk the rest of the day until she went to bed. The entire family is a shell of what they used to be. All because of this damned state!

"Hey Liz…" Gregor replied. Usually Lizzie was still at her middle school by the time he came home, but he arrived close to an hour and a half past his normal time. Although it wasn't exactly his fault he got in a fight, got yelled at, and then walked a girl home in the opposite direction…technically.

Grace had already arrived home from work and locked herself up in her room, probably sulking again. Apparently his father had left shortly before Gregor arrived to pick up Boots at her elementary school.

Gregor went into his room and shut the door, locking the deadbolt. He placed his bag on a chair and dropped his coat on the floor. He set his new phone and music player on his desk and held on to his photo of _her_ before collapsing on his bed. Drowsiness washed over him as he stared at the picture. His eyelids began to drop until all he saw was darkness.

There was a sudden bang at the door that jolted Gregor awake. The photo was resting in his hand on his chest. His bleary eyes looked at the blurry-red numbers on his digital clock. He rubbed his eyes along with a line of droll from his mouth and sat up, placing the photo very carefully in his pocket. It was dinner time.

Lately Gregor had been eating dinner with his family for no apparent reason, yet he still never talked. And due to his anti-social behavior, this came as a rather big surprise to everyone. Before, he used to take all of his meals to his room and eat in solitude; whenever he even ate. Many times, Gregor wouldn't eat at all.

"Hello Gregor!" squeaked Boots with a big grin. He returned a weak smile, although there wasn't any emotion behind it. The smile vanished just as quickly as it appeared. After grabbing a plate and filled it with food, he took a seat.

No one really talked during dinner. Lizzie and Boots were occupied with a television program while his father slowly ate, staring down at the plate. Grace had been eyeing Gregor since he sat down, and it was starting to get slightly annoying. He took a bite of food, and it tasted the same as food has since he left _her_, tasteless

"So I got a call from your school, Gregor." Grace said coldly, breaking the silence. No wonder she was looking so stoically at him, although he knew this would eventually come up sometime. Gregor had dreaded that this would happen. Explaining things, especially to his mother, was so…tiresome. "What happened, hmm?"

Gregor stared down at his plate and remained quiet. All he did was poke at the pork chop on his plate and roll a pea around with his fork. He hardly made a dent in his food.

His father slammed his hand on the table, causing everyone but Gregor to jump in a gasp. "Answer when you are spoken to!"

Gregor wasn't faced by his father's abrupt outburst. Lizzie and Boots were staring at them with concerned faces and Grace seemed frozen in time. His dad had a look of fury and rage on his face. He had finally snapped from all the stress and Gregor was the target for all of it.

"Tell your mother what happened, now!" screamed his dad. Gregor sat silently for a brief moment before answering with a shrug of his shoulders.

It was as if the sound of a gunshot erupted throughout the room and Gregor crumpled to the floor, a large red mark on the side of his face. His father stood above him as Grace held onto his raised hand. Lizzie was trying to push her dad away as Boots cried loudly in the corner.

Gregor's father was yelling at him with pervasive words as Grace and Lizzie tried to restrain him. He had wanted to hit Gregor again, but the two prevented him. After a few moments of struggling and screaming, his father walked out of the house with a cigarette in his mouth along with a bottle of booze and his car keys in his hands.

Grace dropped to her knees and sobbed, her hands covering up her face. Lizzie wiped her tears away and walked over to her brother. As she tried to help him up, he swatted her hand away. He stood up and kicked the chair away the fell along with him.

"Don't touch me." Gregor said coldly. Lizzie wordlessly moved out of his way. The look in his eyes sent chills down her spine and his voice was blood-curdling. It was the same look he had when he first moved to this God-forsaken state.

He walked into his room and slammed the door behind him. The bang echoed through the house. He slid out of his clothes and slipped into his bed after retrieving a slightly-crumpled photo from his jeans on the floor. The picture of _her_ calmed him down slowly, until he eventually fell asleep again.

A crash outside his door jarred Gregor awake. He opened the door to see his food from dinner at the foot of his door. After the altercation with his father, he left the table without finishing his meal. Someone must have put it at his door earlier. He didn't want to eat now. His appetite was long gone.

There was a commotion in the living room down the hallway. Gregor's father had come back home sniveling drunk and spewing profanity while Grace yelled back. The door to Lizzie and Boot's door was cracked open slightly and both were hugging each other in a corner, crying their eyes out. Gregor glanced briefly at them as he picked up the plate of food and walked past their room.

He entered the kitchen, which was right next to the living room. The two fighters didn't notice their son, so they continued their rant. A broken family photo frame was on the ground and the shattered glass was strewn about. His mother's hand was slightly cut and a few drop of blood stained to filthy-white carpet in a dark-maroon color.

"Gregor isn't even the same damn boy as before!" screamed his father, his words slurring. Gregor stopped moving. "Ever since we moved to the shit-hole of a state, he's changed. His old-self is back there, back in New York! With _her_!"

Gregor's eyebrows slanted. Even though his father was drunk out of his mind, he was right. His old self was back at the Big Apple where the smell of smog and vender hotdogs lingered throughout the streets. The nostalgia.

"You don't think I know that? I'm his mother; of course I know he's different!" Grace yelled back. "I want him to be the way he used to!"

Gregor turned away from the argument. He didn't want to hear this. He didn't want to hear their complaining when they were the ones who caused him to be this way. After looking down at the food on his plate, he tossed it down the drain.

As he headed back to his room, Lizzie caught a glimpse of Gregor's terrible eyes. They were filled with nothing but negative and undermining emotions. It sent chills down her body. She was terrified of her brother.

After walking back into his room, he shut his door; much gentler this time around. He slumped on the bed and turned on his music player low enough that only he could hear it. He crossed his arms over his head and stared through the darkness in his room at his ceiling.

"Fucking family…" he whispered before slipping back into darkness.

_Thank you everyone for your patience; I wanted to update this sooner than scheduled. Also if you don't already know, I have an official Facebook page. I made it so it's much easier to communicate with me since I'm on Facebook every day. The link is on my profile, or you can look up Nick410 in the search bar in Facebook. Au__ revoir__!_

_ ~Nick410 _


	6. Another Day

_ Hello again my fellow readers. Thank you for your patience, and I do hope you enjoy this next chapter. Probably will be one of the biggest cliff-hangers in any of my previous fanfics. Feel free to give me your feedback and criticism or any pointers._

_~Nick410_

Gregor bolted upright in his bed and gasped for breath. His forehead and chest were drenched in sweat and his mouth was dry. The palms of his hands were clammy and shook as he held his head. He struggled to regain his breath as he was sitting upright in his bed. His eyes were wide and wouldn't blink. He had another nightmare, and just like the majority of his other various types of dreams, he couldn't remember it.

The alarm clock beside him began to beep loudly. He had awoken only seconds before his alarm went off. Gregor let the clock continue its repetitive beeping as he slowly calmed down. His body was briefly paralyzed from the amount of tension and adrenaline pumping in his veins. The knuckles on his hands were pale-white as he gripped the bed sheets tightly. A few minutes of heavy breathing, he regained mobility of his body.

He turned off the alarm clock and groggily swung his legs over the side of the bed. Gregor stood up, gave a slight yawn, and flicked the switch to the light in his tiny room. The sudden brightness caused him to squint as he changed into his clothes. After sliding the phone, his music player, and the photo of _her_ in his pockets, he slung his bag over his shoulder and left the room.

The hallways were dark as he walked to the kitchen. The pot of coffee he had set to brew earlier in the morning had finished perking. He poured himself a cup and slowly sipped the hot black liquid. He never had much of a taste in drinking coffee with cream or sugar, so he drank it black. He grabbed a granola bar and nibbled on it as he drained the coffee bit by bit.

A moan arose from the other room, catching Gregor's attention. His father was sleeping in the living room on the sofa with an empty liquor bottle in his hand. A thin line of drool ran down his cheek that eventually collected on the collar of his shirt. There was a thick smell of alcohol in the air that radiated from him.

Gregor turned back into the kitchen and threw the wrapper to the granola bar wrapper away. He put on his coat and slung his bag on. Being near his father was one of the few places he did not want to be; excluding school and this damned state. At least in the case with his father, he can leave.

As he silently walked through the living room, his father continued to sleep with a mixture of grunts, moans, and snores coming from him. Gregor's foot accidentally stepped on the broken frame and the strewn glass crunched under his shoes. His father's moaning abruptly stopped ad he gave a small grunt. For a second, Gregor hesitated as his father stirred awake. He saw him open a bleary eyelid and look at Gregor.

"Gregor?" asked his father in a grunt. He sat up on his shoulder and rubbed his eyes. Gregor clenched his jaw and walked out of the door, his father calling for him to stop. He slammed the door behind him with a loud bang, He could've woken up the entire house, even a few neighbors, but he didn't care. He just wanted to get out of there, and fast.

The early morning air was brisk and cool. Vapors swirled out of his mouth every time he exhaled and disappeared seconds before they were emitted. Gregor slid on his thin coat and breathed into his hands, warming them. He put on his headphones and turned on his music. Once again, the world around him melted away. The music flooded into his ears and its slow jazz groove relaxed Gregor's normally tensed muscles. Honestly, he couldn't see himself sane without music. That and along with the photograph of _her_.

In Gregor's mind, which currently had music flooding through it, it took no time at all to reach his dreaded high school. Either Raphael wasn't at school yet, or he wasn't planning on greeting Gregor today since he wasn't at his usual spot in front of the school steps. He sat down and waited.

People stared at Gregor uneasily as they walked in and brief whispers of his name caught his ear. That was normal, except a large amount of worried looks and murmurs directed at him was undoubtedly due to his little "incident"; unless the bruise that developed on his cheek from where his father hit him was so captivating.

The school's bell rung; signaling the day had begun there. Some students scurried hurriedly to their class while other took their time while talking to their peers. Gregor waited a few more minutes on the steps of the school until he decided Raf wasn't going to show up. He wasn't expecting Angie to show up as well since the last place she probably wanted to be was school after what had occurred the previous day.

School passed through like normal besides the large amount of glances at him. Teachers watched him as he passed their classrooms, and when he returned their gaze, they looked away. He also noticed a few incredibly nasty looks from a couple of kids who were friends with or hung out with Tyrone. It was obvious that they wanted to "avenge" their friend, but what would they do? Start brawling in the middle of a student packed hallway where there are teachers all around. He knew they weren't the brightest kids, but they aren't that dumb.

There was a slap on Gregor's back. The slap itself wasn't too painful, but it slung a little and he turned around.

"Hey!" said Raf with a wink. Gregor gave him an annoyed look and Raf's smile vanished. "What?"

"Where were you?" Gregor asked in a raspy voice. This was his first time talking today, so his throat was a tad scratchy.

Raf raised an eyebrow. "You didn't read my texts?" Gregor reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone. When he turned on the phone, sure enough, there was a flashing mail icon in the top-left corner of the screen.

He opened up the menu on the phone. This wasn't his first phone like he thought it was which was why he knew how to work one so easily. There were a few unread messages in the inbox. He had forgotten to check his phone and didn't even feel it vibrate. Probably due to his absent-mindedness.

The texts had said that Raf was going to be late to school today along with Angie. It seems that Angie was debating on whether or not to go to school. Raf went over to her house to comfort her. After awhile, he convinced her nothing was wrong and she was okay for the time being.

"Oh…" Gregor responded back, deleting the messages.

Raf playfully wrapped his arm around his neck and patted his shoulder. "Come on tough guy! Angie is in the cafeteria holding a table for us!" He guided him to the lunch room and didn't seem to notice the odd glares directed to the pair.

When they entered through the doors of the cafeteria, Angie was in the corner table looking around. She spotted the both of them and waved them over, a large smile on her face.

"Hello Raffles! Hello Gregor!" Angie said happily. Raf took the seat next to her while Gregor sat on the opposite side of the round lunch table. Angie's eyes grew large as she took a closer look at Gregor's face. "My God, what happened to your cheek?"

Raf leaned forward and peered at his face. "Holy crap! I didn't even notice that! What happened?" He was about to reach at Gregor, but he swatted his hand away. Raf withdrew his hand and gave a worried look.

"Don't…" Gregor said as he looked away.

Raf's puzzled face turned into a slight smile. There was still worry lingering noticeably on his face. "Hey man, if you don't want to tell us about it, that's cool."

Angie and Raf went up to grab their lunches as Gregor stayed behind to hold the table. He could feel many sets of eyes boring into him, and when he looked at them, they turned away or pretended to look at something else. This was why he abhorred the cafeteria, everyone stared at him.

Gregor felt his blood boil as he looked down at his lap. They were annoying, with their pestering eyes and snide comments made about him behind his back. His hands clenched his knees so hard that his arms began to tremble.

"_Kill them!_" cried out a voice in his head. There was a sudden sharp pain that shot through his head and visions of horrific scenes of him slaughtering the people who stared so coldly at him. He wanted to tear their eyes out of their skulls, rip their heads off, anything to close those hideous eyes of theirs permanently!

Gregor pulled out his pencil from his pocket and stabbed his thigh. He gritted his teeth at the pain. His rager blood had begun to boil in him once again and he was close to drowning into its madness that comes with it. The pain from the stabbing knocked him back into the real world; away from those red grotesque visions that were assaulting him.

Raf and Angie walked over to the table with their lunches in their hands as they laughed. Gregor pulled out the pencil from his thigh and slid it into his pocket. They say down and slowly ate and chatted away as Gregor had his nails digging into his palms. He feared that if he didn't focus on the pain, he would see those visions of madness again and not be able to stop them.

"Gregor!" said Raf into his face. He jumped at the shock, causing both he and Angie to laugh. "Quit spacing out bro. Angie asked you a question, but I bet you missed it."

"Sorry…" he responded. Blood had begun to pool around where his nails were on his palms.

Angie chuckled. "We were saying that there are actually quite a few girls in school who find you attractive. That super-serious face you have all the time unfortunately drives them away. Have you noticed that?"

Gregor stayed silent, blood slowly dripping down his hands.

"What do you think about those girls Greg?" Raf asked, reiterating the question. They were pressing him to answer, which caused his nails to dig even deeper. He disdained the topic of feelings.

"_Shut up!_" screamed the same voice he just heard moments before in his head. There was another blinding pain and the visions returned. He was murdering Raf and Angie horrendously as he laughed wickedly. His face was that of a demon's. The madness was out of control. He had to get away from them, from everybody before his sanity is overcome by the roaring madness.

"I-I've got to go…" Gregor murmured in a hurried voice. He quickly stood up with his bloody hands in his pocket and walked away from the confused pair. Angie and Raf called after him, but he couldn't be near anyone; let alone them. He shot through the cafeteria doors as sweat drenched his forehead. One of Tyron's friends stared at him from a distance.

He half-walked, half-stumbled out of the front doors of the school. No one seemed to notice his departure, so he got off the school premises as fast as he could. The pain in his head was refusing to go away, but the images of death weren't constantly flashing in his head. He needed to get home and sleep so his rager blood would calm down along with the madness.

There was the sound of a car approaching from behind him. Normally cars never travel on the roads on this time until most people get off work. Gregor sat down on the curb and puked. His meager breakfast and cup of coffee came up and strewn across the ground. He stumbled to the side and wiped off the sweat on his forehead with his blood-stained hand. His breathing was ragged as he tried to slow his rapidly-beating heart.

The car he had heard passed by him at a dangerous speed. It suddenly slammed on its breaks and flipped around to face Gregor. He stood up and stared at the wild car's driver. His eyes widened to see that the car's driver along with a few its passengers were friends of Tyron. They had followed him, and Gregor was by himself.

Someone from the back of the car pointed something at him from the window. It looked like a small black metallic piece and he was gripping onto it. The car sped at Gregor at a tremendous speed, the smell of burnt rubber coming from the smoke of his tires.

As the car passed next to Gregor, everything seemed to go in slow motion. He could see a wicked smile on his face as he mouthed the word, "boom". There were a few blasts of fire that shot from the black object and loud pops filled the air. Gregor's body gave way and dropped into a pool of his own blood. The last thing he saw was the back of the car speeding away. Then there was only black.

_Thanks for reading guys. The next chapter will actually get updated really soon since its very short. Chapter 6.5 will be the name of it. If you haven't done so already, I have a facebook page, so like it if you want to get caught up on my latest updates and sneak peeks! ;)_

_~Nick410_


	7. Half Chapter

_ This is only a half-chapter due to its small amount of words. Decided to update a new chapter quickly rather than the normal once-per-month. Please give me your feedback and thank you for the reviews._

_~Nick410_

He felt as though his body was floating. It felt so light and soft, but he couldn't seem to move a muscle. His body was paralyzed and numb, yet it felt so calm and relaxed. This wasn't so bad. He could stay like this forever if he wanted to.

There was a low, repetitive beeping noise that awoke Gregor from his slumber. He opened his eyes and looked around the dark room. Machines surrounded his body and tubes and needles filled with liquids were connected to his body. The beeping noise was coming from another machine that seemed to represent his heartbeat.

The only part of his body he could voluntarily move was his eyes. Apparently Gregor's body had so much drugs running through it that it could not move. There was a need stuck in one of his hands and the tube was connected to a large bag filled with clear liquid. A strong smell of eucalyptus clung in the room.

"Looks like you're finally awake." Someone suddenly said. Gregor turned his eyes to the voice and saw an older-aged man with shaggy gray hair and dark bags under his eyes standing in the doorframe. He was holding a cup of coffee with one hand while the other rubbed an eye. "Morning. You've been out cold for almost two days. Have a nice sleep?"

Gregor could only blink at him.

The man snapped his fingers, remembering. "Ah, that's right. You wouldn't be able to speak to me even if you wanted to. You're on enough pain-killers to put down a horse!"

He took a sip of his coffee and gave a yawn as he turned on a screen. The light that emitted from the screen brightened the room. It showed a picture of a skeleton that had a few bones shattered into fragments. Two ribs and the right shoulder had been broken into a few pieces. There were a few round objects around the shattered areas that Gregor couldn't distinguish what they were.

"My, my. You were quite a mess when they brought your bloody body to us." The man said with another sip out of his cup. "You're lucky to even be breathing boy. You were shot five times and none of your vital organs were hit."

The man pointed at the shattered bones on the screen. "Two bullets passed right through you but the other three hit your bones, destroyed them, and got lodged in your body. Took me and my team over twelve hours to dig them out and fix you up while you were in your drug-induced little nap. Your welcome."

He clicked on a button on the monitor and the image on the screen changed. It was the same skeleton except the shattered bones had been replaced. "We put metal rods in for your ribs along with a metal ball-type instrument in place of your shoulder."

Gregor looked at his shoulder then to his chest. Both were bandaged with a thick amount of gauze and more tubes came from them.

"Sorry about this." Said the man as he walked over to Gregor. "You have to go to sleep for a little bit again. Only reason why I'm not sleeping right now is because the anesthetics were about to run out."

He took the bag that has the clear liquid and pulled out the tube that was connected to Gregor's hand. Another bag with what looked to be the same liquid was taken from a shelf and replaced where the old bag was. The tube was re-inserted in the new bag. "You're going to feel a cool feeling throughout your body."

The nozzle on the tube that would activate the flow of the liquid turned. A feeling of ice ran through his veins. His eyes widened largely as the unexpected feeling flew inside. Not even all the drugs in his body could numb the feeling. Drowsiness encompassed him and his eyes began to fall. "Nighty-night!"

_Next Chapter: Recovery…_


	8. Recovery

_ Not much to say here. You will finally figure out a bit more of whom the mysterious man is and how Gregor is doing. Will Gregor recover? Is the man on his side? Are the kids who shot him caught? What the bloody-hell are you asking me for? Read!_

There was a searing pain that shot through Gregor's torso as he tried to sit up. He had been asleep for so long that his joints were completely stiff. It felt as though a week had passed during his drug-induced "coma". If he didn't move at least a little bit, the stiffness in his joints would be very unpleasant.

"Whoa, careful now." said a familiar voice. It belonged to the man with the shaggy gray hair. He didn't look as tire as before, but the dark circles were still under his eyes. "Don't strain yourself kid. You wouldn't want to open up your wounds, I would be rather upset. I don't want to work on you any more than I have to because of you stupid ass."

Gregor was taken aback at the comment. The man smiled with a chuckle to show he was joking. "I only kid. You don't have to stay silent you know. Most of the medicine that made your body unable to move is no longer in your system."

In a response, Gregor nodded to show that he understood. He stared at the calendar on the wall and found out that he had been shot over five days ago.

"Ah, you're the silent-listener type I'm guessing! That's good. I myself am more of a talker rather than a listener." The man said as he pulled up a chair next to Gregor. "Sorry for such a prolonged introduction, but hello, I am Dr. Jason Hindler, also known as the man that saved your life. You should remember that along with this handsome face of mine."

Gregor actually gave a slight smirk to that. "I'm Gregor."

Hindler held up his hand to stop him. "I know who you are kid. Pretty sure all of Virginia does too. After that little incident with you, the local news crews ate up that story and eventually dug up the school situation as well. To them, they saw the story as a money and attention grabber. I mean something along the lines of, "the hero who saves a girl and gets gunned down and then still lives" is bound to grab many viewers' eye."

Gregor looked down at his lap. He had wanted to stay unknown to the world. How ironic the situations have turned out. Now attention was bound to be stuck on him for quite some time.

"You don't seem very pleased. If I were to guess, you wanted to spend most of your days under the radar. Undetected. Unnoticed. Am I correct?" Hindler asked after peering at Gregor's face.

"How…?" Gregor murmured. The doctor seemed to know exactly what he was thinking.

Hindler laughed. "Judging by the look on your face, I was correct. You see, I know quite a bit about psychology as well. I could tell what you were thinking by looking simply at your character. Since you're the quiet-type, you wouldn't want to be put on the spotlight; especially so suddenly. You prefer to be left alone primarily and definitely don't want to be the center of attention. Am I right, or am I just rambling nonsense?"

Gregor shook his head.

"Thought so." Hindler said with a smile. He reached behind him and pulled out a tray with food. "Eat up. Since you've been here, we've had to feed you through a tube. I'm pretty sure you're starving and craving for something solid."

The tray was put on Gregor's lap. He looked down at the unappealing food. There was a small sandwich with some type of meat he couldn't tell what it was and a slice of cheese that looked and awful lot like plastic. Next to the sandwich was a bowl filled with light-brown colored broth. A small cup of jello and a glass of water were the only other things on the tray.

Gregor picked up the flimsy sandwich and took a small bite. The taste was rather bland, but the food triggered his brain to know just how hungry he was. Bite after bite, he munched down until a pile of crumbs lay dribbling off his chin and onto the tray. He gulped down the tasteless broth and ate the jello with his fingers, disregarding the spoon that was provided for him. After washing everything down with the water, he stared at the empty tray on his lap.

"Damn, I guess you were pretty hungry." Hindler said with a surprised look on his face. "I'm pretty sure you're still rather hungry, but I'll have to wait and see if your body can hold the food before I permit you seconds. If it doesn't reject the food, you'll be allowed more."

Hindler stood up and stretched. He took away the tray and set it aside on a counter. "I need to do a couple of check-ups on a couple of other patients for a bit, so you'll be by yourself for a while. Inside the drawer to your left has all of your personal items that were on you when we obtained you. Unfortunately your clothes weren't salvageable, but the items in your pockets were practically unscathed. Find something to keep yourself entertained until I get back. And please don't move too much."

After Hindler exited the room, Gregor slightly shifted in his bed and opened the drawer. His music player, headphones, and cell phone were lying in there along with a square picture. Gregor grabbed the photo and noticed a few smears of dried blood on the back. Luckily the front wasn't touched as he rubbed his thumb over _her_.

He plugged the headphones into the music player and slid the buds into his ears. The music began to play and he shut his eyes, the photo resting on his chest. Once again, his body relaxed and his muscles began to ease. His attention to time around him dissipated away, so he could not tell how many minutes or hours had passed. As long as there was music flowing through his head and he had the photo of _her_, he could stay where he was forever; or until the battery ran out.

"So who's she? Your lover?" said a voice over the music. Gregor pulled out his headphones and opened his eyes. Hindler was sitting in the chair, looking at the photo of _her_ in his hand.

Gregor shot his hand to the photo. He felt something rip and a great pain followed. His body fell to the ground with a thud and blood began to pool underneath his bandages.

"You fool! I told you to keep still! You just re-opened you wounds!" Hindler shouted. "Nurse!"

"Give it…back!" Gregor said in a voice barely over a whisper. The fall had knocked most of the wind out of him and he was gasping for breath. He was wheezing and stared at Hindler with half-lidded eyes that were cloudy, his hand stretched out to him.

Hindler looked at the photo with a confused face. He knelt down next to Gregor and handed it to him. Gregor snatched the photo away and his breathing began to calm. He had been hyperventilating and shaking. The pain continued to send shocks that rattles his body.

A lady and another doctor arrived into the room, and with Hindler, they lifter Gregor back up onto the bed. The nurse began to reattach the tubes and wires that had fallen off after his fall. He held on to the picture tightly as they were doing all this.

"Put him out. We need to stop the bleeding immediately." Hindler said as he slid on a pair of white gloves and put on a medical mask. The nurse put an oxygen mask on Gregor's mouth that was connected to two large tanks. She turned the nozzle and a faint scent of cherries could be noticed. It took only a matter of seconds before sleep unwillingly induced him.

It only seemed like his eyes were closed for a brief period of time. When his eyes opened, he realized straps held down his limbs. His ankles, wrists, chest, and waist were strapped to the bed with restraints. He tried to sit up and struggle out before his chest caught on the straps, putting painful pressure on the wounds.

"Stop moving dunce." said Hindler's voice; an annoying tone dripping off his words. He sat in another chair with his back facing Gregor. "You're strapped in for a reason. I don't want you falling over again and have to stitch your wounds a third time, got it kid?"

Gregor didn't respond back as he was fixated on the photo of _her_ on his stomach. Hindler must have placed it the so he didn't begin freaking out again and stay calm. He stopped trying to break out of the straps and just lay staring at the photo.

Hindler span around his chair, now facing Gregor. He noticed that his attention was focused on the picture and scooted over to the bed. "You really flipped out over that picture. I'm guessing it's incredibly important to you."

Gregor nodded.

"Who is that pale girl anyways? With the purple contacts?"

Suddenly Gregor's corners of his lips lifted into a tiny sad smile. "Someone I loved…"

Hindler looked at Gregor. Just from the look on his face, he could feel a thick sensation of sadness pour out from Gregor. He couldn't help feeling sorry for him.

There was a beeping noise that came from Hindler. The doctor pulled off what looked to be a pager on his waist. "Excuse me." He stepped out of the room, leaving Gregor to bask in his thoughts.

Gregor began to think about _her_ once again. It was a sad yet happy thought at the same time. He missed _her_. He still loved _her_. He wanted to be with _her_. She whose name had been lost in the plethora of negative emotions that swam throughout his head. Not to mention the madness that was always there inside of him had a role.

Hindler walked back into the room, a cup of freshly-brewed coffee in his hand. Gregor started to think his doctor had a little bit of an addiction to it. "You have some visitors, boy. If you promise not to stumble to the floor again like an imbecile, I'll remove the straps. I'm sure it'll seem like some type of torture-style to them if they see you like this. So will you behave yourself?"

After Gregor nodded, Hindler removed the straps and gestured in ht doorway for his visitors to come in. He was expecting his family to come waltzing in with Boots and Lizzie's face deep with worry and watery eyes, his mother with her signature distant stare caused presumably by the escalating scale of events, and his father who most likely wouldn't be looking at him. None of that entered through the frame, except for the worry on the two people's faces. Raf and Angie entered in the room.

"Gregor!" exclaimed Angie. She ran up to Gregor and stood by the bed. Her eyes were red from crying.

Raf walked over, a bag that seemed to filled with heavy materials slung around his shoulder. His face was smiling as always, but Gregor could see the worry in his eyes. Even in this situation, he put up a poker face and made it seem like he was calm. "How's it going Greg?"

Gregor nodded at him to imply that he was alright. Raf gave a relieved smile and sat in the chair that Hindler had previously been in next to bed.

"I'm glad. Not gonna lie, you scared the shit out of me bro." Raf replied. He slid off his bag onto the bag, causing the mattress to sink under its weight. "I brought you the work you've missed!"

An annoyed glare came from Gregor, causing Raf to chuckle. The last thing he wanted to do after getting shot in a drive-by, be put into a drug-induced coma, and tearing open his wounds was doing schoolwork. He gave a sigh and straightened up in his bed as Raf and Angie began pull out the mountain of textbooks and papers.

Hindler smiled slightly as he took a sip of his steamy cup. "I'll leave you alone. I have a couple of other patients that are in dire need to see this devilishly amazing face again." Angie and Raf laughed. "Visiting hours are done in a little bit, be wary of that. I'll come back then. Tah-tah!"

As Hindler left the room, Angie turned to Gregor. "He's a funny guy! Seems nice too, is he your doctor or something?"

Gregor again responded with a nod. Hindler was an interesting man. Being able to pick inside his head was a feat by itself, and he was also able to make him smile for a brief moment. He had this sort of charisma that would make even the most depressed person chuckle or feel happy.

"Alright," Raf said loudly as he rolled up his sleeves, "let's get started with this work!"

"Yeah!" Angie agreed with a giddy laugh.

The three spent over an hour studying and helping Gregor with his missing work. They filled him in on a lot of details that had happened since he was asleep. The kids who shot Gregor were found and arrested for attempted murder after Tyron coughed up their names when he was interrogated by police officials who believed him to be a suspect. They promised to drop the charges of him attacking Gregor with a deadly weapon if he gave them information, and he folded. Every kid who was involved in the shooting received two years of prison and a criminal record except for the one that actually pulled the trigger. All fingers pointed to him once they found out that ratting out their "friend" would knock off three years from their initial sentence. Tyron was expelled from the school along with Grill and Slim for fighting and he and his family fled Virginia a couple of days ago.

Apparently the news was such an attention grabber that the national news did a small piece on it. Gregor's parents were interviewed constantly by both the local and national news reporters, but they never gave much detail. He had become a hero through the media, and frankly, he wasn't quite pleased with the idea.

Gregor didn't believe that doing the right thing and then getting shot for it deserves the amount of attention it's gotten. Unfortunately, the news was rather boring and repetitive, so when a new scoop happens, they pounce on the opportunity. Anything to improve their ratings after all.

Hindler walked into the room and knocked on the doorframe. "Sorry kids, visiting hours are over. You can come back tomorrow or something."

"Time sure goes by quickly when you're with friends, even when we're doing some boring ass work!" Raf exclaimed as he stood up and stretched. His back cracked and he let out a sigh of relief.

"Maybe if you didn't sleep in class or doodle all the time," Angie responded, "you wouldn't have to do make-up work with Gregor!"

Raf gave a laugh and winked. "What can I say? I'm a procrastinator!"

"Not to mention lazy as hell." Angie mumbled back. She began to put the books and papers back in the bag.

"Ah yes, laziness!" Raf said, snapping his fingers. "The icing on the cake. Mustn't forget that!"

Angie gave a laugh as she finished putting the rest of the pile of books and work in the bag. "Of course! Now get your lazy ass over here and carry this bag like a civilized gentleman!"

"Your word is my command milady." Raf replied, bowing with his right arm across his chest and the other behind his back. He slung the bag over his shoulders. "I'll see you later Greg!" Raf bolted out of the room, Hindler shouting back at him to slow down.

"I better go chase after him. Get well!" Angie said with a wave. She took after Raf. Hindler left the room as well; his fist flying into the air as he yelled for Angie to stop running.

Gregor put on his headphones once they left. He was tired; mentally, not physically. A couple hours of studying and finding out he's looked at as a media-influenced hero was a rather large load on him. At least the kids who aimed to take his life were locked away for the time being.

As long as the madness didn't come back, he would be just dandy. Unfortunately luck was not on his side at all lately. The madness would show its ugly face again one day, and Gregor was terrified that his self control would diminish along with his sanity when that happened.

_Thanks for reading this chapter. Chapter 8 is done as well and 9 being written at the moment. If you haven't seen already, I have a Facebook account for me, and if you like it, you'll be able to get updates and sneaks first. Just look up "Nick410" in the search bar. Au Revoir._

_ ~Nick410_


	9. The Media

_ Hello there guys. Thank you for all the positive feedback; it really makes me continue writing. I try to set some time around my busy schedule to write these chapters and make up good ideas on the go. Please support me by giving me a "like" on my Facebook page that can be reached on my profile page. It will mean a lot to me and it literally takes ten seconds._

The hospital released Gregor a few days later. It took a little while to monitor him and run tests before they agreed he was fine to go back. His new shoulder now worked fine after a few extensive physical therapy methods. He could now stretch his back without making it feel like his flesh was being torn apart. They said no anomalies should occur with his prosthetic bones, so there was no more worry over the doctors.

"This time try not to get yourself brought to the brink of death again, kid." Hindler said as he walked Gregor to the hospital's front doors. "Can you at least make an attempt boy?"

Gregor gave a slight thought before shrugging his shoulders. Hindler laughed. The automated glass doors slid open with an annoying squeak.

It was almost noon, and the hot air blasted onto Gregor. He could see the heat vapors rise from the concrete that seemed to have a hazy shadow effect if looked at in a scrutinizing manner. People who were outside had sweat that glistened on their brow and their shirts stuck to their torso, dark wet spots around their collars and armpits. A man attempted to momentarily block out the scorching heat by pouring water from a drinking fountain over his head.

"Is your ride here yet? I can wait a bit."

"I'm walking."

"If that's the case, I'll just drop you off. I won't be on call anyways," Hindler responded. He jiggled the car keys in his pocket.

Gregor shook his head. The doctor gave him an understanding nod.

Alright then. I want you back here for a check-up in about a week or so." Hindler said while waving his hand on his face to cool him off. As Gregor began to walk off, Hindler reached out and gripped his shoulder. "Listen, even though most of them are locked away for the time being, I'm positive that there are still people out there who are itching to get a shot at you. Just be wary, got it?"

Gregor, without looking back, nodded. He already knew this. It was old news. Tyron was quite known in school by being both notorious and infamous. Even if he fled the state with his tail tucked in between his legs, his "followers", or friends for that matter, would have it out for him. Although he disdained the thought of having media-based fame, the fact that nothing terrible would happen is rather soothing. Of course the opposite is still possible. This show-biz might just be painting a target on his back.

The hospital wasn't too far from his house surprisingly. Gregor had never passed by it since it was in the opposite of his school. There might've been signs that he passed by before about the hospital, but he must not have noticed or paid attention to them. If there were commercials about it, then he could immediately count that out due to the fact that he simply never watched television. Even if he wanted to, by the time he usually arrives home, he either takes a nap or rests. Plus having Lizzie and Boots hog it all day makes it close to impossible to access.

It didn't take long to arrive at his house, but the stifling heat made it seem a lot longer. Sweat beaded on Gregor's brow and his tongue felt like sand paper. His mouth was dry and it seemed like no saliva was being created in an attempt to moisten anything.

The door to his house opened with its usual creaking noise. All of the lights were off and the rays of sunlight that shone through the windows illuminated parts that made the house seem sinister and eerie to those who entered its depths. A flick of the lights made all the eeriness disappear.

No one was home at the time. Gregor half-expected a little surprise party when he returned that he would surely disdain, but only silence greeted him. He didn't mind the ambiance; in fact he enjoyed it. Lizzie and boots were at school and his parents were doing their own thing. Honestly, he couldn't have cared less.

A large stack of envelops and papers were on the table. Each of the envelops had Gregor's name either scribbled or typed or typed on them. None have been opened yet, and the addresses were from various parts of the country. The papers seemed to be drawn by a group of kids that all said, "Thank you Gregor!" on them. Apparently even little kids are celebrating Gregor's "victory" over those "damn bullies" and where using him as an icon.

Gregor took a seat next to the table and crossed a leg over the other and took a random letter from the pile. He tore the opening and pulled out a folded piece of notebook paper. The sender of this letter was in another state on the other side of the country. He un-folded the paper and read:

_Dear Gregor,_

_ Hey man! I heard about you on the news, and man, that was amazing! Kicking bullies' asses and even getting shot! Not saying you getting shot was cool and all, but that's still freaking hardcore bro! You inspired me to take on the bullies in my school as well! Hope you recover soon!_

_ -Randal_

He stared at the note, blinking at the paper. Twice he read it, and then a third time. People were calling his actions laudable, and now he was starting to get called a hero. He, in his mind, was far from that.

There was a screeching sound of tires in the front of the house as Gregor finished another letter. His mind shot back to the memory of the shooting. Already? They're back to finish what they started?

Gregor got up from his chair and took a sip of the cold water he got to deal with the dryness in his mouth. Tension built in his shoulder as he grabbed a knife with a long and sharp blade from the kitchen.

The sounds of a large group of people murmuring came from behind his door, followed by the banging of their knuckles against the wood. Gregor gripped onto the handle of the knife and hid it behind his side. He approached the banging door and put his hand on the knob. Slowly he turned the doorknob and swung open the door.

He expected there to be bullets flying and knives slashing, instead there was a group of people in suits holding microphones up to his face. Cameras stood behind him with their lenses focused on him. Gregor quickly slid the knife into his back pocket.

"Gregor! Gregor! What was it like?" cried out one of the people holding a microphone close to his mouth.

"What about when you were shot," asked a lady, "were you scared? Concerned?"

They were annoying. All of them. So annoying…

Gregor shot a glare at the reporters that immediately shut them up. A cold shiver ran up their spines and they took a step back. It was as if fear had encompassed them. He could see a look of fear and panic in their eyes.

He closed the door with a click.

Boots and Lizzie came home a couple of hours after that; their faces damp with a mixture of sweat and tears of joy at seeing their dear brother again. At first, Gregor was hesitant to return their hug, but he did and received bubbly smiles from the two. It was well worth it.

Both parents returned soon after and Grace hugged him tightly as his father went outside to smoke. Gregor didn't hesitate to not return the hug to his mother. His arms lay limp at his sides as she hugged him.

Dinner was eaten in uncomfortable silence as usual. Everything was back to normal except for more scars added to Gregor's already abnormal amount and the fact that the media had sights on him.

Lizzie decided to end the uncomfortable silence by turning on the television. As she was flipping through the channels, she gave a slight squeak. Everyone turned to her and saw that she was pointing a finger at the screen.

"What?" asked her father in a gruff voice.

"Look!" Lizzie responded with a high-pitched squeal. "Gregor's on T.V!"

Sure enough Gregor's face was on the screen. It was taken when the reporters had arrived on his doorsteps. His face was puzzled and tense. He was, after all, a bit taken aback at the sight, especially when he thought it was someone else entirely at the door.

"The boy everyone in Virginia knows, eighteen-year old Gregor, was released from the hospital around noon this afternoon. After being released, he supposedly walked by himself back home." The reporter said. "We tried to talk to him and answer some questions, but he was reluctant to answer."

His picture on the screen changed to the one where he glared at the reporters. He didn't look like himself. In fact he didn't even look human. That inhumane look in his eyes, those terrifying eyes, were they really his? It didn't seem that anyone sane could look like that, so did that mean Gregor was losing his grip? He hadn't seen the "blood visions" in his head since that time, but was that going to appear once again and rear its ugly head?

"_Is that…what I really look like?_" Gregor thought. He himself was frightened at the sight. There was no question why people had been purposely avoiding him. Nobody in their right mind could bear such a grim face; and Gregor had fallen right into that category.

Gregor grabbed the remote and turned the channel. His sisters had a look of terror on their faces once they had seen the picture of their older brother. Grace was staring blankly at her plate as his father held up a spoon filled with food up to his mouth, but wasn't moving. All of them had seen the screen and were now scared at what he had become.

He moved over to the dinner table, his father's eyes tracing him. Gregor's appetite was now long gone. After seeing himself, he was sick to his stomach. Even if he still was hungry, he felt he would hurl it back up. The only thing he wanted to do was to get away from them and take a breather. Leaving his food on the table and his immobilized family back in the dining room, he walked outside.

There weren't any news vans or reporters outside luckily. Perhaps he had scared the shit out of them just as he unintentionally did with his family. It was a good thing that they were gone. Gregor did not want to run into them again with all their cameras and microphones in his face asking countless questions while photographers stood behind them blinding him from the flashes of the lens. He wouldn't be able to handle the pressure or the amount of attention. If they were here, Gregor most likely would have done something tragic he would've surely regretted.

The outside air was cool with a very mild breeze that ruffled the trees' leaves overhead. Funny, the weather must be bipolar or something. It's brutally hot one moment then very nice and comfortable the next. A park was near where he lived, so he decided to head there; let his mind wander a little.

Gregor passed the park every time he went to school, but he never really visited it until now. There were a few people walking around, primarily couples holding each other's hands as they walked together. Their happy faces and giddy smile, he envied the lot of them.

A fairly large tree stood in the middle of the park where its branches swayed lightly in the breeze and its red leaves dancing elegantly to the ground. It was nature's beautiful version of their "Dance of Death". The leaves dropped to the ground in a whimsical ballet into their eventual oblivion and demise.

There was a park bench under the tree covered with the leaves. No one seemed to have sat there in awhile since the leaves on the bench were primarily dry and dead. Fresh leaves coated the ground in a dark-red mosaic. Absolutely beautiful.

Gregor sat on the bench and watched the couples pass. They looked so happy and carefree, and he was sick to his stomach with jealousy. He longed to feel those feelings and emotions again and rid himself of these undermining ones inside. _Her_. That's all he wanted, no, needed to return to the way he was!

An image of Lizzie and Boots' terrified faces after they saw his own flashed inside of Gregor's muddled mind. Because of him, he scared his own little sisters. He only wanted to protect them yet ironically he did the opposite. He scared them.

His fist slammed on the bench's cold empty seat next to him. He began to wonder if anything he tried to do was going to eventually fall apart. Hell, he couldn't even make his sisters feel safe when he was around! He was utterly useless!

Gregor pulled out the picture of _her_ and stared at it. He traced her outline with his thumb as he's done before many times. Silently, a tear dropped down his cheek and onto the ground.

_Thank you guys for reading this chapter. I am going to be on summer vacation once school is over in a couple of days. I have a good amount of it already written, so it should be up around the same time next month like usual. If I do work on them during the summer, I hope to update every two weeks or so, but I unfortunately do not know at this time. Again, thank you for taking your time to read my story. Au revoir!_


	10. Return

_Hey guys, back for the next chapter. I'm sure you'll like the ending of this one and won't be able to hold still for the next chapter. Also if you want to keep on track of future updates or some sneak peeks, head on to my Facebook channel and give it a like!_

The alarm on his clock beeped loudly, rousing the sleeping Gregor. He lazily stretched in his bed and rubbed his bleary eyes. Blindly he turned on his rooms light and turned off the infernal beeping from his clock. His back popped as he stood up and rubbed his neck. The picture of _her_ laid on the stand next to his bed. She seemed to smile right at him through the photograph.

Gregor grabbed a white shirt, a pair of dark jeans, and his undergarments from his closet and put them on the counter in the bathroom. It was barely lit outside as it was very early out still and everyone was asleep. Quietly he walked over to the kitchen and filled up the coffee maker before turning it on.

He went back to the bathroom and shut the door. After he turned on the shower to let the water warm up, he pulled off his clothes. His new scars looked fresh and tender and stood apart from the collage of older ones. The bullet wounds seemed to make Gregor look even more sinister and intimidating.

When the water had warmed, he stepped into the steamy shower. As the water washed over his scarred and torn body, Gregor sat on the bottom and his back leaned on the cold tile wall. His right elbow leaned on his raised right knee that was brought up to his chest as he silently let the water rinse over him. After a few minutes of having the warm water trickle down his body, he stood back up and washed out his hair and body.

With a squeaky turn of a knob, the water stopped falling. He leaned on his new shoulder and slowly let the excess water drip off his body. If he had the choice to stay in a shower for the rest of his life, he most likely would. For one he could let all of his troubles run down the drain, let the warm water ease his tense muscles, and just sit and think about _her_. Alas the water would eventually run cold and render the shower useless.

Gregor grabbed a dry towel on its hook and began to wipe his body down. The towel immediately became soaked with water as he finished drying off. He hung the damp towel back on the hook and began to put on his clothes.

The clothes seemed to be very bland compared to today's standard of "style". Gregor couldn't care less about fashion. Besides the fact that his family was never able to afford clothes that were nice, he didn't see the style in clothing necessary or important. His own personal looks or worries were the last thing on his mind.

After changing, Gregor went to the kitchen and poured a cup of black coffee into a disposable cup. With his phone, music player, and photo of _her_ in his pockets, coffee burning in his hand, headphones in his ears, and bag slung across his shoulders, he was ready to leave.

The air was very cool as it pelted Gregor's face. Compared to yesterday's weather with its scorching heat, this was absolutely beautiful. Clouds of steam rose from the cup of coffee and through his nostrils. His arms showed goose bumps that ran to his shoulders, but his face refused to show any emotion as always. It was very early in the morning, so it is likely the weather would drastically change.

He reached his school early, and not a soul was around. The front doors were still locked and the only people who seemed to be inside were the janitors and a handful of teachers setting up for their classes. Mr. Milan, the ceramics teacher, was most likely there as well to prepare the clay.

Gregor sat on the steps and slowly sipped at his coffee. Neither Raf nor Angie would arrive anytime soon, so all he could do was sit on the ice-cold cement and wait for someone to eventually open the door.

It was well over a half an hour before students began to arrive. By then, his coffee had long been gone as he silently stared at the photo. A girl that was an underclassman walked past him, her eyes stuck on him. The girl pulled out a book with a black cover which was currently the new "Harry Potter" of books where a girl is forced to fight to the death with a bunch of other teens. She peeked at Gregor from behind the pages of her book, thinking it would seem like she was only innocently reading.

Ms. Rhodes' car drove up to the school's parking lot. The car was just as ugly as she was, with an old and faded pale yellow paint and terrible brakes whose squeals sounded like some Hollywood car chase scene. She hopped out of her car carrying a large box of donuts along with one of the pastries in her mouth. Gregor's eyes met her own and she stopped in her tracks.

The donut sticking out of her mouth dropped and she scrambled for it. The comical scene made the girl with the book chuckle. Ms. Rhodes straightened and glared at the girl, who looked back down at the pages. After fishing out her keys from her ugly burgundy purse, she unlocked the front doors.

Gregor watched as Ms. Rhodes and the girl with the book, who was still stealing glances at him, go into the school. He decided to wait until either Raf or Angie arrived at school instead of going inside. They seemed to take their sweet time getting to school, most likely getting breakfast as some fast-food joint like McDonald's.

As usual, the students entered the school with their routinely glances at Gregor; except today was different. Their stares were neither cold nor demeaning, but rather seemed like they were looking at something incredulous and unbelievable. In a way it seemed to annoy Gregor even more than the old glares.

Not only did the students seem to be different, but the school's atmosphere seemed changed as well. The air felt nicer for some reason, but Gregor found that he missed the old melancholy and slight morose feeling instead. He preferred that nostalgic gloomy and vile touch in the air, not this giddy and upbeat mood. It made him sick, but I guess when someone as notorious as Tyron and a multitude of gang-bangers gets kicked out of the school they have tormented relentlessly, one can't help but feel rather exultant. In this case, practically most of the school was after they found out what they had done. Humorous how they once looked up to Tyron, but now after they heard the story, they despise him.

Gregor looked past all the gawking faces and spotted Raf and Angie walking towards the school. Raf was listening to music and used his hand to pretend to play the drums with the song while Angie was staring hard into an open textbook, only pausing to look up to see where she was going.

"Hey Greg, been waiting long?" Raf asked after he stopped his ridiculous drumming of his hands and turned off his music. Gregor slid off his headphones and responded with a shrug.

Angie hushed them, not looking up from the book. "Be quiet please! I need to study for my test in my first class!" She then began to walk away slowly as she used her finger to keep track of where she was reading.

Raf turned to Gregor after he briefly watched Angie step away and let out a laugh. "She always is like that when it comes to tests! I guess that's why she's in such advanced-placed classes." Gregor silently nodded in agreement.

The school bell rang out its annoying tone that echoed throughout the school. As usual, kids began to migrate from the quad and cafeteria to their classrooms. Teachers who arrived late scrambled to their classes to let the students in. A student who was eating a breakfast sandwich inhaled the rest of it and hurriedly ran to her room.

"Geez, already? I just got here and the bell rings! And to think I left early as well!" Raf huffed. He re-positioned his bag and gave a friendly nudge to Gregor. "I got to head to Mrs. White's class before she scolds me again, peace!"

Gregor nodded back as Raf headed towards his class. Once Gregor entered into own, the room fell silent. All of the students had their eyes focused on him as he sat down. Their gazes were not judgmental as usual. In a way, he missed that feeling.

Each of his classes had the same vibe. He would walk through the door, the room would fall silent, and they would gawk at him throughout the rest of the class. At one point a little note got passed at him. He had gotten a secret admirer and the note basically said that they loved how brave he was. The bell to end that class rang and Gregor tore up the note in front of the students and shoved it down the trash. A girl in the back of the room gave a shocked gasp.

As Gregor began to head to the cafeteria during lunch, Raf wrapped his arm around his neck. "Hey, what's up mister famous?"

Gregor nudged off Raf's arm and raised an eyebrow.

"You're the talk of the school right now," Angie said as she appeared behind Raf, "everyone in my classes brought you up at some point."

"Angie! How was your test?" Raf asked, completely changing the subject nonchalantly.

She gave an annoyed sigh. "It was absurdly easy! I honestly didn't need to study!"

"Watch out! We got a badass over here!" Raf exclaimed, raising his hands above his head. Angie let out a laugh and punched him in the arm. Gripping his arm where she had punched, Raf made a sad face and began to whimper.

"Quit your crying you pansy!" Angie teased. She turned to Gregor. "Things don't seem to be in your favor though."

Gregor narrowed his eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" Raf asked for Gregor. The three arrived at the tables in the cafeteria and sat down.

"Gregor has become infamous now. A few people said Tyrone's friends were going to attempt something towards him." Angie explained as she opened up her backpack and brought out a lunchbox.

Gregor put an arm on the table and rested his cheek on his palm. "So what?"

Angie's eyes grew wide. "'So what'? What the hell do you mean 'so what'? Do you even understand the fact that you might be in danger?!"

"Yep." Gregor said with closed eyes. A flabbergasted look was on Angie's face that looked almost humorous.

"Relax girl," Raf responded, "if Gregor can take on three gangsters by himself and still live through a bunch of bullets being blasted through him, then a couple of petty punks should be no problem!"

Angie scratched her cheek with her finger and gave a doubtful look. "I guess so…"

"Nothing to worry about!" Raf said with a smile and thumbs-up. All of a sudden, a large fumbling sound came from him. "Well, except I worry about my growing hunger! I'm going to go get some lunch, be right back!"

As Raf got up to head to the snack line, Gregor noticed that Angie was staring at him as he walked away. He also noticed her eyes were dilated as she stared at Raf. Angie noticed that Gregor was staring back at her, blushed, and quickly turned away while taking a bite of her lunch.

Raf came back carrying a variety of sweets. He sat down at the table, tore open one of the wrappers, and inhaled its contents. "Ah, the wondrous smell of powdered-donuts! Want one?"

Gregor opened an eye and saw Raf offering him one. He hesitated at first, but took one of the white sweets and gave a curt nod as a "thank you". Raf handed the package of donuts to Angie with a smile. With a rather noticeable blush, she took one and returned his smile.

A few clumps of powdered sugar fell to the lunch table as Gregor held the donut in his fingers. He took a small bite and slowly munched on the sweet. Angie ate the donut in one bit and gave an "mm" in delight.

"Thanks Raffles!"

"It's no big deal!" he replied with a laugh. He finished the remaining donuts just before Gregor finished his. The rest if lunch went by with Raf and Angie conversing while Gregor tuned them out and focused his attention on the carved-in letter "L" on the table. The school bell rung and the students let out exasperated groans.

"Damn, the lunch bell rings too early!" Raf complained as he crumpled up the wrapper to the donuts. "You want to meet up with us after school Greg?"

Gregor slightly shook his head. "Can't."

"Oh that's right, you've got to see Dr. Hindler for a checkup today huh?" Angie asked. He nodded in agreement.

"What for," Raf asked as he stood up and stretched. Gregor put his hand on his prosthetic shoulder and shrugged. "I got you."

The two bid farewell to Gregor with Angie praying his checkup yielded good results. School passed the same as it had earlier ON TODAY. After the final bell had rung, Gregor packed up and walked past the crowd of staring eyes and gossiping lips to the doors that exited the hell of school.

"Welcome back mister reckless." Hindler said to Gregor as he stepped into the room. He was scribbling something on his clipboard that was incomprehensible. You would think that over eight years of college education would eventually perfect your handwriting; not have it look like someone was having a seizure while writing something. "How was your first day back in school?"

Gregor responded with a "how-do-you-think-it-went" look. He took a week break from school before he returned today. Hindler laughed and gestured for Gregor to sit in a chair. As Gregor sat, Hindler took a sip from his coffee and pulled out a few files.

"That bad, huh?" Hindler asked as he raised Gregor's arm in a few different positions. "I'll assume people left and right were gawking at you. Please remove your shirt."

The coldness from the doctor's stethoscope came a bit unexpected to Gregor as it touched his bare skin. Hindler would listen to his heartbeat and jot down the numbers on his clipboard. He then examined Gregor's stitches to see if any needed to be replaced or cleaned if infection had occurred over the past week.

"It seems like you're completely fine. Your body doesn't show any signs of rejection to your artificial limbs, your stitches are perfectly clean and intact, and I assume you can move around with no difficulties." Hindler stated after examining Gregor. He then began to pour another cup of coffee.

"That can't be healthy…" Gregor responded to his doctor.

Hindler raised his eyebrows at the fact his patient just spoke, but then smirked. "Trust me, I'm a doctor!" He gave a fist pump. "Yes! I've always wanted to say that! Want some?"

Gregor couldn't help but give a slight smile and shrugged. "Sure."

"How do you like it?"

"Black."

Hindler stuck his tongue out at the comments as he poured a separate cup for Gregor. "Blegh! I prefer drowning my coffee in cream and sugar. I hate it black!"

"That's racist." Gregor joked, a smirk on his lips.

"Looks like you have a sense of humor after all!" Hindler replied with a laugh. He handed him his cup. "Hope you like it strong."

Gregor nodded and sipped at the coffee, his expressionless face returning. The strong bitterness of the coffee was delicious. Both remained quiet until both of their cups were drained. After he returned the cup, Gregor began to get ready to leave.

"You don't technically need another mandatory checkup for the most part, although I would like to see you for another one just to keep my mind at ease." Hindler said as he finished scribbling down some notes on his clipboard.

Gregor gave another smirk as he handed his empty cup to Hindler. "Like me that much?"

"Oh totally," Hindler responded, taking the cup, "I just can't help seeing you take your shirt off." He immediately looked around to see if anyone else heard that since anyone who did would automatically think the doctor was some type of pervert. There was a sigh of relief and he laughed hard. A chuckle even came from Gregor.

There were no news reporters or vans around as Gregor walked up the steps to his house. He had been with Dr. Hindler for over two hours and the sky was already beginning to grow dark. The cool air was carried by a brisk wind that ruffled his hair. Both of his parents' cars were parked outside, so they were home much earlier than usual. An annoyed grunt came from him.

Gregor opened the door to his house and saw the entire family sitting on the couch. They had been conversing, but stopped once he entered. Boots gave a toothy grin and waved at her older brother. Lizzie gave a sad smile to Gregor.

"Hey." Gregor said as he walked past the family's staring eyes, returning Boot's smile with a faint version of his own. He opened the door to his room, shutting it behind him after he entered. His sling from his backpack slipped and the bag dropped to the floor. Gregor felt exhausted from the long day, and his fatigue overtook his body as he lay on his bed. With the picture of _her_ out on his chest, his eyes began to droop.

Three loud knocks came from his door right before he drifted to sleep. He sat up and gave a slightly angry groan. The only thing he wanted to do right now was sleep.

"Gregor, come out. We need to have a word with you," said his mother's from behind his door. Her voice sounded upset, but he paid it no mind. He stood up, placed the photo back into his pocket, and opened his door. Grace stood at the foot of the door waiting with her arms crossed.

She looked terrible. Dark lilac circles and begs underlined her eyes. Her once brunette hair was now littered with streaks of gray. Wrinkles had replaced her once youthful skin. In only a matter of five years, she looked like a shadow of her former self; which was what Gregor exactly was.

He followed her back to where the rest of the family was. His father had his fingers crossed over each other as his chin rested upon them. Lizzie preoccupied herself by fiddling with a piece of material from the couch. Boots was drawing stick figures on a piece of paper.

"Have a seat." Gregor's father muttered with a serious tone. Gregor wondered why a family meeting was so unexpectedly called. Had the school expel him for fighting? Did something drastic happen because of his actions? He sat down.

"Me and your mother have seen how these last few years have changed you." His father continued, eyeing Gregor. "We've been thing of taking you somewhere that might help you."

Military service or juvenile detention was the first things that popped up in his mind.

Grace took a seat as well. "I'm rather against the idea, but your father thinks it will be in your best interests."

"_Definitely juvenile detention_." Gregor thought.

"So by the end of this week," His father responded, "we'll all be taking a trip back to New York."


	11. New York

**Sorry for the prolonged update, have had a lot on my plate lately. Hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll try to update more efficiently.**

Gregor opened his eyes just in time to see the large buildings of New York City. Before he had fallen asleep, the road showed only countryside. Now he saw the rural area of the state he had grown up in. There were many new buildings that Gregor didn't recognize along with many new shops and restaurants that replaced older ones.

He rolled his window down and stuck his head out. The cold air hitting his cheeks, the noises of taxis honking and badmouthing each other, the nostalgic smell of the Big Apple, absolutely serene.

Both Boots and Lizzie were passed out in the back from the fourteen-hour drive. Grace put her book down and stared at the city they had lived in five years ago. Gregor's father was trying his hardest to fight his fatigue, but had refused Grace's help when she said that she could drive.

Central Park came into view as they drove down the street. Besides a few new trees here and there along with an additional couple of water fountains, the park was roughly the same as it was. Gregor saw the area where the stone slab was that led to the Underland and fought every urge in his body to leap out of the moving vehicle and run there.

Boots stirred in her sleep and woke up with a large yawn. She peeked out the window and gave a cute little squeal once she saw the park. Lizzie woke up once Boots poked her head so she could see as well. Grace sat quietly as she stared wordlessly out the window.

The car stopped in front of the all-too familiar apartment building where the family had once called "home". Everything seemed to be exactly the way it was on the outside since they had left it five years ago.

"Mrs. Cormaci invited us to visit once she heard we would be coming here." Gregor's father explained with a yawn. He turned off the car and rubbed his eyes. All of the car's windows automatically rolled up.

Gregor stepped out and almost lost his balance. They had only stopped about four times during the drive to eat or have a bathroom break, so his legs weren't used to standing. He has to grip the edge of the car's roof just to stay on his feet. After he obtained his footing, he stretched his limbs. Everyone else followed suit.

Surprisingly the elevator was actually in commission. When they lived there, it was almost always broken. After their fourteen-hour drive, the last thing they wanted was to climb multiple flights of stairs.

The elevator beeped and the doors opened. A teenager stepped out of the elevator and reeked with the smell of marijuana. There was a plastic bag sticking out of his jacket pocket, which he tucked in once he saw family. His bloodshot eyes looked cautiously at them as he walked by. Grace gripped both Boots and Lizzie.

"Sup." The teen said as he scratched his shaggy hair and walked past. He flipped his hood over his head and walked out of the building. Grace kept her hold on the girls until the boy was out of sight. Wordlessly, the family walked into the elevator.

The elevator smelled just like the teen, but they still went inside. Gregor's father punched the button to their old floor as Grace pinched Boots' nose to keep her from smelling the bitter herbal stench. Lizzie did the same while Gregor leaned on the wall on crossed his arms.

There was a small ding noise and the elevator doors opened. They stepped in front of the door to where they used to live.

"Can we go in there?" Boots asked, pointing at the door.

Grace kneeled down beside Boots. "Sorry sweetie, but we can't."

"Why?"

"Because we don't live there anymore."

Boots looked sad, but continued to walk forward.

"Hello!" Mrs. Cormaci said with a toothy grin. She barely had changed in appearance since the last time they had saw her, which was a bit eerie. After an awkward hug with her, Gregor and the rest of the family sat down on a sofa. Mrs. Cormaci turned her television on to a cartoon to keep Boots and Lizzie moderately entertained as the grown-ups talked amongst themselves.

Gregor stared out of a small window and down at the city streets. He wondered how Larry and Angelica were holding up, if they even still lived here. He wondered what high school he would've gone to if he was still living here. More importantly, he wondered about _her_, whose name was forgotten.

"Gregor!" exclaimed his father's voice, snapping the boy back to reality. "Mrs. Cormaci asked you a question."

He turned to her. "How's school been?"

"He's had better days." Grace responded, her lips pursed.

"Now now, I asked the boy." Mrs. Cormaci piped up. "What say you?"

Gregor lowered his gaze to the floor. He thought about how he almost was killed not too long ago. He thought of the cold glares and cruel words directed at him. Then, he thought of Raf and Angie and even Hindler. He looked back up to Mrs. Cormaci.

"Brilliant."

"Ahh…" Boots sighed dreamily as she lay on the bed of the motel they were staying at. The room was very tattered and ran-down. There was a constant dripping noise that came from the shower that couldn't be found and the television only showed a few soap operas and two news channels, one completely in Spanish. Both twin-sized beds were old and dusty and relatively small. Gregor would have to sleep on the floor, but he didn't mind.

He opened the room's door and stepped outside to the balcony. The sky had grown quite dark now, and there wasn't any stars out that could be seen. Smog from the city must have blotched out the stars by covering it up with its hazy appearance. At least Virginia wasn't like this, probably one of its only redeeming factors.

The boy looked around from where he stood. A grimy-looking homeless man was pushing a shopping cart filled with empty aluminum cans as he muttered to himself. Cars and taxis drove by with the occasional honk of the horn or one driver gesturing to another that he was "number one". A very pretty girl wearing lewd clothes stepped out from one of the motel rooms, a fist full of dollars in one hand and an expensive designer purse in the other. She noticed his eyes staring at her and flashed a grin along with a free-of-charge wink. Her fingers twirled at him as she descended the flight of stairs and eventually out of sight. He blinked at the spot he last saw the girl.

"Gregor," Lizzie said as she opened the room's door, "everyone is done and Dad ordered pizza. You can take one now whenever you want."

"'Kay." Gregor responded, not bothering to look back at her.

Lizzie gave a sad look and stared down at her feet. "I-I'm sorry for being a bother…"

She spun on her heel and was about to open the door back into the room when a hand on top of her head stopped her. Gregor had his right hand on her and stared at her with his usual emotionless face. Lizzie was in shock at the gesture; her brother had not made any physical contact with her in over five years. No embraces, no high fives, no pats on the head. The young girl began to bawl and ran into his body, gripping his back and crying into his shirt. He hesitated a moment at the sudden change of events, but eventually returned her embrace. Lizzie's face, which was mostly buried into his torso, was flushed pink and a visible blush on her cheeks. They stayed that way for a few good minutes.

Gregor opened his eyes and met darkness. The pitch-black motel room was either freezing, or because of the fact that he was laying on the floor with a flimsy mattress cover. Most likely both.

He silently stood up, trying to minimize the amount of squeaks coming from the old floorboards. The picture of _her_ fluttered to the ground as he forgot to return it to his pocket. How foolish. After blindly searching on the ground as quietly as possible, he returned the photograph to his pocket. How foolish. After blindly searching on the ground as quietly as possible, he returned the photograph to his pocket.

The small digital clock on the nightstand read that it was nearly three in the morning. He slipped into the bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror as he gripped the sink's corners. His eyes were bloodshot and have a menacing look about them. Dark lilac circles under his eyes. Hair was a complete mess from rolling around from a nightmare in which he already forgot about. How attractive.

He turned on the faucet and waited for the water to get warmer before splashing his face with it. The water dripped off his chin and eyelashes back into the sink. The tips of his hair were damp and clung to his forehead. He dunked his hair under the water and ran his hand through it. After drying, he used a brush to slick his hair back.

A sudden thought hit him. The motel leads to the parking lot. The parking lot leads to the street. The street eventually leads to Central Park. Central park leads to that place, the Underland. And the Underland would lead to…_her_. If she was there, he was going. Gregor gave himself a quick glance in the mirror and flipped the light switch off.

The floorboards squeaked as Gregor crept slowly across them. It felt like a lifetime, creeping across the room. He didn't want to wake anyone up due to the noise since he would have to explain why he was up in the first place; not to mention why he was also already dressed. With a prolonged turn of the doorknob, he quickly opened the door and stepped out into the bone-chilling New York air.

""You think you're sneaky huh?" said a voice once the door closed. Startled, Gregor turned towards the voice. His father was leaning the railing; a beer can in his right hand and his eyes staring into the distance. "I'm not that foolish to think you wouldn't try to head back, given the opportunity."

Gregor took a step back, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. After another mouth-full of beer, his father turned his head to the boy. His face was a pinkish-red blush from the bitter cold weather. The scarf that wrapped around his neck and chin seemed to have little effect in keeping the warmth insulating, but he didn't seem to mind. Maybe he waited out there long enough to the point he didn't feel it anymore.

He pointed at Gregor with his beer-hand. "It's been awhile since I've seen any emotion on that face!" Gregor immediately reverted to his expressionless façade.

His father sighed and turned himself so his back and elbows leaned on the railing, looking up at the black sky. "I'm not going to stop you, you know."

Gregor's eyes widened noticeably.

"There's a bag with black clothes and some food underneath the car. The clothes will allow you to slip through Central Park, the rock slab, and the Underland unseen; from human eyes of course."

He was right. In the Underland, creatures of unusual sizes, or C.O.U.S' for short as he called it, inhabited the underground network of…well he didn't exactly know how to put it in words.

"What…" Gregor whispered faintly. He was flabbergasted, and emotions fluctuated on his face.

Gregor's father tilted his head to look at him. "What the hell are you waiting for? Don't tell me you're backing out! Go!"

The boy hesitated, but began to walk away to the motel's staircase. "Wait!" He turned back to his father.

"Before you go, I need to tell you something. I know I haven't the best father or anything. Hell, I probably deserve to be hated." He was struggling on his words. "I couldn't help you with your pain, your suffering, and we allowed it. I allowed it."

Gregor was shocked to see his father begin to cry. He hadn't seen his father cry in such a long time, years and years ago. Yet here he was, spilling his heart out and the tears splashing down his face to the motel's parking lot. His scarf caught the tears that traveled down his cheeks.

"I just want you to know, I love you. I never stopped loving you. Even when I screamed and yelled at you, I still did…"

"I know Dad."

His father wiped away his tears. "Thank goodness. Thank goodness."

Gregor turned his back to his father. He couldn't bring himself to say he loved him back, even though it was the truth. These emotions going crazy within him, the odd feelings he hadn't felt in over five years, where unbearable.

"Take care of them, Dad."

And with that, he descended the stairs, grabbed the duffle bag, and ran into the darkness.

_**The ending of this chapter was rather rushed, so I apologize. I needed to wrap this up so I could work on the next chapter. Remember to check me out on Facebook and give it a like to follow me on updates!**_

_**~Nick410**_

_**Next Chapter: Her**_


	12. Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

_Hello ladies and gentle-fish! It's Nick410 here to tell you that I'm not dead! I do apologize if I got your hopes up if you thought this was a new chapter, however, the good news is that I'm working on the latest one as you read this! I've re-written it as well as thrown in some new twists, so I'm really hoping you guys are going to like it .Although I do not know exactly when it'll be published, I can say for certain it'll be up in a short matter of time. I wanted to thank you all for viewing this Fanfic and all the praise brought to it. It really means a lot. As for my hiatus, it's still ongoing due to work, but I've been writing here and there when possible. This Author's Note was basically just a heads-up as well as an explanation. Again, I do apologize greatly! Hope to see you guys again soon!_

_~Nick410_


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